Through the tears and the laughter
by Under A Bed Of Red
Summary: What if Snow never met Serah what if he had met Hope instead? What if the pair got together, what would that mean for lights group?
1. Chapter 1

**ust something i thought i would write as i think that they are a great pairing together. Well in this fanfic Snow and Serah never met instead he met Hope and this is their first encounter with each other. **

Snow stood in the bar leaning against one of the poles of the bar which was golden in color. He had his unique signature grin plastered on his face which no one else could pull off. It was his and his alone although he wouldn't use it too often as when he smiled at the usual gaggle of girls that were always in the bar, they would giggle for at least ten minutes which annoyed him slightly. He loved being single but sometimes it sucked, like it was at that very moment. He was alone behind the bar that he had worked at for a few years and he had no one to talk to at all.

Suddenly as if the gods had heard and felt his boredom, a young male entered the bar looking all around it until he spotted Snow. He looked about sixteen and had white hair although Snow didn't need to look at the young male for too long as he fell for him almost instantly, he was more beautiful than the male could of imagined. He smirked to himself as the male walked towards the bar and leaned against it resulting to Snow to meet him on the other side of the bar with his grin now slightly wider than it had been in a while.

"Im looking for Snow" he asked with a small smile.

"That would be me kiddo. What do you want?"

"A job"

"You got any qualifications?"

"Here" said the male with a grin as he pushed a folder towards Snow with various documents inside of it "So?"

Snow looked through the folder and suddenly got an idea which he grinned at, he wanted to see if the male was available for him to make a move on. He quickly grabbed a folder of paper and a pen before writing out the questionnaire quickly which he gave to the smaller male with a smile before handing the pen over too. Their hands briefly touched and Snow felt his stomach fill with that feeling that people described as butterflies making his grin disappear with a slight frown at himself.

"What kind of questions are they?"asked the male reading through them "Am i single?"

"Just answer the sheet am i will tell you then" smirked Snow.

The boy shrugged and filled the form out frowning at a few questions yet still answered them all the same. He handed it to Snow who grinned as he read it before placing on the table and looking up at the male.

"So your name is Hope, your single and bi?" he said with that signature grin on his face.

"Yeah but i don't see what that has to do with the job?"

"Well you have have the job if i have a date"

Hope raised his eyebrows while secretly his stomach was rolling over and over, as soon as he had walked in he had thought Snow was hot and now the male was asking him out for a date, he was completely shocked and didn't know what to say at all. He wanted to go on the date more than he showed although his mouth was wide open and he was blushing a little.

"Im sorry?" he managed to mutter.

"The name is Snow, single and thinks your hot" he said grinning "I asked if you want to go on a date with me"

"Why would i do that?"

"Because you cant resist me"

"Haha yeah anyway the job" said Hope rolling his eyes.

"I told you, you only get the job if i get a date" Snow informed.

"Well in that case" the young male said thinking "I will pass"

"What?"

"See ya Snow" said Hope with a grin as he turned round.

Snows face fell as he saw Hope walked away, it wasn't that he had been told no as he could get over rejection quite quickly but it was the fact that it was Hope and he could tell that the guy had a nice personality and was hot to boot. Yet he lifted his head up as he heard Hope come back to the bar.

"On second thoughts i will take that job and that date" he said with a smile before handing a piece of paper with his phone number on it over the bar.

"Hope" muttered Snow as a grin returned to his face, matching Hopes grin.

"Yeah?" he asked smirking.

"You start tomorrow and our date is in three days" said the male with a wink.

"I wouldn't miss either for the world" said the young male before running off with a large grin on his face and punched the air when he got outside.

"ha ha" laughed Snow before he punched the air too, he couldn't wait, he needed to get everything ready for their date and he didn't have a lot of time.

_**Two Days later:**_

Hope sat across the bar wiping it with a cloth as Snow put all of the bottles away. After five or so minutes they had cleaned up and were ready to go on their date which Hope was still in the dark about as Snow wouldn't reveal anything whatsoever.

"You ready Snow?" asked the male with a sigh.

"Coming Kiddo" smiled the slightly older male.

Snow walked from behind the bar and the pair left by the front door which the male closed behind him. He didn't know whether to take Hopes hand or not so he kept is in his coat pockets while Hope had his swaying by his side. The pair walked down the street where Snow pulled Hope into a cab that was waiting for them. He opened the door and threw himself in while the younger male stepped into the car a few seconds later. The cab driver knew exactly where he was going and he had been paid earlier so they were just in for a casual drive.

The two men spoke all the way there about various things before they reached their destination. Snow helped Hope out of the car before placing his gloved hand over the young males eyes who tried to throw his hand off of him.

"No peeking" he said with a laugh which made Hope stop squirming as he felt himself being led across wooden blanks.

Snow took his hand away from Hope who opened his eyes and cried out in joy, they were in a hut looking over the beach. The older male had laid out a meal on the table just for the pair of them and Hope noticed that the sun was now going down. Everything that Snow had done the boy loved, as he had used the form Hope had signed a couple of days ago with his favorite location and favorite food etc.

"Snow" smiled Hope as he turned around and wrapped his arms around the males waist resulting in Snow placing his around Hopes "I love it, thank you"

"Glad you do it took me all day" he said with a smile and rubbed the back of his head as he slightly blushed for a few seconds.

"You didn't have to do this much, a dinner at your place would of been fine"

"Shhh and eat"

Snow led Hope towards the table and the pair sat down to eat which took them an hour and a half as the whole night was full of laughter and fun. The sunset filled the beach making the water glisten and the sand look like small grains of gold. Hope got up and leaned against the huts bar looking at the sunset before he beckoned the other male over. Snow stood behind the young male and held his hands on his shoulders as fireworks went off in the sky above them.

Hope jumped back making Snow laugh until the young boy looked at the fireworks which said four related words just for him. _I love you Hope. _The male turned round and sawthat Snow was looking at him rubbing the back of his head, which he did when he got nervous and blushed slightly.

"I hope its not too soon but its true Hope these past few days have been heaven, i love you kiddo"

"Snow no one has ever done anything like this for me and its not too soon, i was going to tell you tonight that i loved you but you beat me to it"

"Say it anyway" pleased Snow with a grin slowly appearing.

"I love you" muttered the young male.

The oldest male grabbed Hope and lifted him by the waist forcing the male to wrap his legs around Snows waist who looked into the teenagers eyes and lowered his head closer to the young male. Hope lifted his own in response and their lips connected letting off a spark that both males felt causing their kiss to become deeper and more passionate. Snow forced is tongue into Hopes mouth who moaned gently before placing his own into the oldest males who to the young boy, tasted like heaven. The kiss broke as they both gasped for air.

"Oh god Snow" moaned Hope as the other kissed his neck.

"Yeah" he muttered.

"Lets go back to yours"

"I don't know, are you ready for that?" he asked.

"Please" he pleaded causing Snow to smile and nod.

Snow picked up his phone and dialed for a cap which would be there in ten minutes although they would have to meet him on the road as he couldn't get to the beach. The oldest male took Hopes hand in his own and the pair walked closely together, talking as they went. Neither could wait for what was about to happen and they both wanted it, they knew that it was early but they also knew that it was right.

**i hope you enjoyed it and please comment as i will make the next chapter which is when things will get steamy haha. **


	2. Chapter 2

**So here is Chapter 2 hope you all enjoy and please comment =)**

The pair soon reached Snows apartment which was an average size with a living room, a kitchen, one en suite bathroom to the one bedroom that he had in the house along with a single bedroom, a dining room and a fairly big garden round the back although Snow hardly ever used it.

The pair hurried into the apartment before shutting the door behind them letting the males embrace each other yet again. Their lips met with a fiery passion that each ,ale was feeling towards the other as they felt the others tongue in their own mouth. Anyone could tell that they wanted each other right there but the didn't want to rush into things so they had decided in the can that they would take things slower and wouldn't have sex, yet. Although that wasn't going to stop the pair from doing other things to each other.

Snow and Hope broke away from each other and managed to let out a few deep breaths before they looked at each other who were both slightly worn out of all of the kissing that they had been doing that night. Hope laughed and blushed slightly making Snow rub the back of his head with a small grin. The oldest male then walked a few feet into the living room dragging the young male behind him and gestured with his hands towards the doors that led off to various rooms.

"This is the living room, toilet there, kitchen, dining room and" he began before winking "the bedroom with an en suite bathroom"

"Well arent you going to offer me a drink?" Hope asked with a grin.

"I was about to Kiddo"

"Well i with have coke with vodka if you got it and ice"

"Dont want much do you kid?"

"No, not really" he said walking towards the black leather sofa and lying down upon it.

Snow let out a chuckle before he walked into the kitchen and poured two glasses of coke with the selected items that Hope wanted in one glass and decided to add the same in his own. He then returned into the living room where he found the young male struggling to put the flat screen TV on which sat onto the wall opposite. The eldest male placed the glasses down before taking the remote of Hope and pressed one of the buttons which made the TV spring to life.

"Thanks" muttered Hope with a frown as he was slightly annoyed with himself for acting stupid "Im not good with technology"

"No problem, i can help you with that" Snow said as he leaned over the sofa and kissed the other male on the lips who couldn't help but let out a moan which made the other male break away and grin "Now, now"

Hope frowned and blushed slightly again before Snow made his way around the sofa where he scooped the young male off of it with ease. He then layed back on the black leather, pulling Hope on top of him. Both males layed for a minute or so until Hope stared at the TV screen and ran one of his hands through Snows hair which was one of his hot spots, if anyone gently run their hand through his hair it always turned Snow on, not so that he went hard but he loved the feeling he got from it.

He returned the favour by slowly running his hand down Hopes spine until it rested on the males back close to the youngsters ass, he then took the other males empty hand in his own before letting them entwine together. Snow then looked at the TV screen too although he wasn't really watching it as he kept looking back at Hope. He looked cute when he had his attention on something which made that signature grin appear on Snows face.

"You should be watching the tele" smiled Hope who turned to look at Snow.

"You noticed me looking then?"

"Well it hard not too"

"I know i am irresistible" smirked Snow before laughing as Hope rolled his eyebrows "As are you"

"Oh shh you" muttered the male.

Snow leaned upwards to kiss the male when the back window suddenly smashed causing Hopes eyes to be filled with terror and he dived into the oldest males chest. He quickly got up and placed a finger on lips to tell Hope to keep quiet, the young male nodded and looked towards the closed door where the smash had been heard from. Snow made his way to the door with raised fists and kicked the door open before rushing into the room. He looked around for a bit before hearing Hope yell his name in terror making the oldest male run back to the living room where Hope stood with a female opposing him holding a sword.

"Lightning?" muttered Snow.

The female looked at Snow and dropped to the floor as blood fell from her wound onto the wooden floor. She yelled in pain and cleaned her free hand onto her wound which was on her chest before lowering her sword. Snow ran to her side and yelled to the female who was for once in her life helpless. Hope walked towards the female and saw a mark on her chest which began to glow and hit into both males knocking Hope into the wall and Snow across the floor.

A dark tattoo appeared on Hopes arm and another appeared on Snows. The eldest male got up first and ran to the smallest male who he picked up in his arms and rubbed his hand against the youngsters face.

"Hope" he yelled "Wake up"

"My hero" muttered the youngest as he woke up coughing.

"Your ok" Snow grinned kissing the male deeply.

"What about her? Who is she?"

"I will explain later"

Snow got to his feet and hurried to Lightning who layed on the floor, Hope then walked towards the pair and a green light echoed from his heart which made its way to the female and healed her wound making the female lunge forward. Snow looked at Hope who fell to the floor with tears running down his face. The eldest male ran to him and placed his hands on the other shoulders but Hope shrugged him off and stared at his tattoo.

"Magic, Im a l`cie and fucking l`cie" cried Hope.

"Hope calm down" asked Snow with a shaking voice.

"Calm down? Bloody calm down. We are enemys of our home and now destined to die" yelled Hope getting to his feet and crying "Snow"

Hope yelled out loud, he was upset and scared, he didn't know what to do. He ran at Snow and hit into the males chest although the eldest male didn't do anything to stop him and took the blows. As suddenly as it had started Hope stopped and cried into Snows chest where the eldest male looked at Lightning who got to her feet with an almost sad expression at Hope.

"We need to go" she told the two males with a frown "Before we die right here"

Snow knew she was right but Hope was too scared to move and was just crying in his arms. The male lowered himself to face the male and kissed him gently before he spoke in a clear voice.

"We need to go, now" he explained "You know how much i care about you, we have to leave. Do you trust me?"

"I don't know Snow" he managed to mutter yet stood up all the same.

Lightning grabbed her sword and fired at the front window before jumping out of it and beckoning the others when she landed. Shots were suddenly fired at the two males and Snow pushed Hope to the floor and quickly lifted the other onto his back before jumping through the window, he wasn't going to leave him, not now and not ever.

"Lightning?" he called.

The female sighed and called to Snow who ran after her and the two made their way to the street where the female had a couple of vehicles waiting for them. She got in one and Snow placed Hope in the other before slipping in front and grabbed the controls which operated the vehicle. Lightning went of first and Snow quickly followed her with Hope in the back who showed no expression whatsoever on his face.

After half an hour or so the group had landed and made a small camp site which they could sleep in but not be noticed. Lightning was already asleep and Snow layed onto the bed that him and Hope would share as they only had two between the three of them and were sleeping on Lightnings spare one. Hope however sat in front of the fire just staring into the flames.

"Hope" called Snow gently "You should get some sleep"

"And then what everything will be peachy in the morning?" he asked with a frown "My life is ruined Snow and its all you fault"

Hope got to his feet and ran off towards the river where he fell onto the bank and grabbed his hand at the grass while he cried. Snow was not far behind the male and slowly walked onto the bank where he sat next to the young male as a tear fell down his own cheek.

"Im sorry Hope im so sorry"

**So i hope i took everyones advice and slowed down their relationship at the start and now added a problem, i know that l`cie don't get made as i did but i hope that it worked for this storyline and im not sure wether to write anyone or not yet so please state if you want anymore chapters and if you do then i will continue on with it =) =) =)**


	3. Chapter 3

Heres the third chapter sorry it took so long and yeah iv changed the story line a fair bit to fit in with the story so far so i hope you like it and state any changes you think should happen and what not Hope you enjoy and please please comment :)

Snow woke up to find Lightning standing over him with her hand to her own mouth, showing the male he had to be quiet. He slowly rose from the small bedding and pulled on his white top and jeans while looking around for Hope but couldn't see him anywhere. He opened his mouth to speak but Lightning pointed towards a small hill that they were behind and nodded.

He carefully and slowly looked over it where he found two soliders yelling at Hope. They had him at gun point and the small male was extremely frightened. Snow clenched his fist and looked at Lightning who pulled out her sword before throwing a spare handgun him. He mouthed a thank you and slowly crept upwards to get a better chance that he wouldn't miss.

The pair jumped over the hill where Snow began to fire at one solider while the female flipped over them both and struck the other solider in the chest. Hope kicked the struck solider to the ground where he layed turning the spot below him red. Once both were dead Lightning checked the surrounding area quickly.

"We are safe now" she muttered as she put her sword away "You can hold onto the gun"

She walked away back to the small campsite that the group had slept the night before leaving the two males behind. Snow asked if the other was ok which Hope gave a small nod in response. The younger male began to walk away when Snow grabbed his arm in order to pull him back which he managed to go although Hope glared at the large male.

"What have i done?" he muttered to the small male.

"You made me a L`cie" growled Hope as he tried to pull away from Snow.

"That was my fault or my choice"

"Well its not your problem either"

"But it is, im one too and Hope you are my problem, i need you"

"Shut up!" yelled Hope as a tear fell "We are now destined to die and you need me? Snow you hardly know me now let go"

"We wont die, i wont let you" he said gently "All we have to do is complete our focus"

Hope was about to speak when two figures came running towards them causing Snow to let go of the youngest male. One was black and wore a brown jacket with a white shirt and jeans which were also brown and tucked into the black boots. The other was a female with pinkish colored hair who wore a strange dress and wore various bangles/charms on her wrist and neck. Behind them was a pack of three wolf like creatures who were getting close to them, too close.

"Get Lightning and hurry" he ordered as he pulled the gun from his pocket.

Although he was upset Hope nodded and ran towards the camp site as Snow ran towards the duo. They came together just as one of the wolfs jumped towards them, Snow sent an array of bullets and one hit the wolf in the face making it fall to the floor. The other two creatures roared in anger as they saw the body of the first wolf before they began to charge even faster.

"One down two to go" cheered Snow.

"Lets help him" smiled the female.

"As long as he doesn't mind newbies"

Snow listened as the two figures spoke before turning to face them yet kept one eye on the wolfs that were getting closer and closer. He introduced himself with his signature smile before he asked the two who they were. The female smiled happily as she began to explain who she and her friend were.

"Vanille and the old guy is Sazh" she told him laughing.

"Oi" moaned the older male.

A howl broke the laughter and the three looked towards the wolf that was coming at them. Vanille held up a rod like weapon while Sazh pulled out two guns from his pocket holders. Snow aimed his gun and fired but gulped when he noticed it was empty. He threw the weapon at the wolf which it caught in its mouth and threw to the side causing the male to take a small step back.

"Not good" muttered Snow.

The wolf jumped and Vanille swung the rod in her hands which she fired to wrap around the the small wolf, knocking it to the floor. Sazh then fired a few shots at the beast which layed on the floor defeated. The female cheered and laughed while the older male sighed. Snow however saw the last wolf being thrown to the floor.

A gigantic wolf howled and began to charge at the group causing the other three to turn away from the beast and run away. They just had no breaks and they were getting tired as they fell onto the floor before forcing themselves up. Lightning and Hope appeared in front of them with the female holding her sword out already.

"I can take him" she yelled.

The female ran at the wolf at an incredible speed which caused Snow to smile and follow her as he was itching for another fight. Vanille giggled and raised her rod before Sazh raised his guns and the two followed the other couple of fighters. Hope however turned and ran to hide, he had no weapons, couldn't fight and was scared to the bone.

The wolf whacked its paw at Sazh who was thrown into a rock face causing Vanille to scream and run to the males side. Lightning swiped her sword at the creatures chest who roared and countered with its own swipe yet the female quickly flipped backwards, out of harms way. Snow was looking for a weapon so that he could help the pair but the wolf jumped over him and ran after Hope.

"Hes defenceless" cried Vanille.

Snow charged after the wolf as fast as he could, he had to warn Hope he just had to. The male wasn't going to let the male die, he cared for him too much and he had to save him even if Hope hated his guts. Snow was running so fast that he didn't notice his hands glowing a white light, they were generating magic. A power only given from being a L`cie.

"Snow!" yelled Lightning who was following the male "Magic"

Snow looked at his clenched fists which were glowing even brighter and he clicked with what the female said. He lifted his fist up and waved it forwards sending an ice spell at the wolf who growled as it hit him. Snow cheered as he began to run after the wolf again as it hadn't stopped running after Hope who was running like a maniac.

"Snow" he cried as he saw the male coming towards him.

Lightning flew past Snow and jumped onto the wolfs back where she swung her sword into its neck line. The wolf roared and threw her off of it before swiping its paw at her making the female fly backwards and smash into the floor. The beast caught up with Hope and knocked him over with its head causing Snow to lower his head down and run even faster.

"Hope move" he yelled.

Hope yelled as he rolled to the side dodging a strike from the giant wolfs claw. Snow then fired another blast of ice at the wolf who roared in pain. The small male then cried as Snow was sliced across the chest by the beasts claw causing the male to be covered in his own blood. He fell to the floor as Hope yelled in anger.

"Snow!" he yelled "You cant die, i.......... i love you!"

The small male suddenly yelled as he erupting a golden glow from his body. He fired a beam of holy energy at the wolf who was thrown into the sky with a howl before Lightning threw her sword at it which sliced throw its chest and its heart, killing the wolf. Hope limped to Snow and without thinking placed his hands on the other males chest where his hands glowed again causing the older male to heal.

Snow slowly opened his eyes to see Hope leaning over him with tears running down his cheeks. The male then collapsed on him as he closed his eyes and fell onto Snows chest. He caught Hope and stared upwards as Lightning came towards them with Vanille and Sazh close behind.

"Are you ok?" asked Vanille with a gentle smile at the small boy.

"They are fine but we need to go" exclaimed Lightning.

"Can we join you?" said the other female quickly before Sazh could say a word.

Lightning raised an eyebrow and frowned at the female before showing her the tip of her chest where her L`cie mark was. Vanille smiled slightly as she showed the other her hip where her own mark was and Sazh showed them his. All three looked at Snow who showed them his own mark.

"Does he?" asked Sazh frowning.

"Yeah" muttered Snow as he kissed the others forehead.

Lightning looked at the other two members before thinking things through then quickly nodded at the pair. They could use some help especially if they were now L`cie and were going to be attacked by most of the people the saw from now on if they saw their marks. The thing about being a L`cie was the fact that they were cursed and the government had made people believe that they were going to be cursed too if they got anywhere close to them. They made them believe that all L`cie was evil even though most of them weren't and were just trying to find out what they had to do.

"Now lets go!" ordered Lightning "Snow take Hope back to the site, Sazh you and Vanille can help me pack up our stuff"

"Yes sir" mocked Snow.

"You shut up" she growled as she walked off with the other two close with her.

Snow picked Hope up and placed his on his own pack where the boy muttered a few words which the older male tried to listen to but couldn't understand half of then. Although he did hear the last few words.

"Mum let me sleep"

"Kiddo im not your mum, far from it" smiled Snow.

"Oh great its my hero" he muttered with his eyes still closed.

"You betcha"

"I was being sarcastic, now let me down i can walk"

"I don't think thats such a good idea"

"Now!" said the youngest male.

Snow shrugged and let Hope to the ground who walked a few paces and fell to the floor where the older male picked him up on his back again with a grin as he loved being right.

"Told you" he said before lowering his voice and speaking more seriously "Did you really mean what you said back there?"

"You heard?" gasped Hope as his skin went bright red "Well i um........."

Snow kissed the male on the cheek and although Hope didn't kiss back he at least didn't move away or stop him. Hope then gripped tightly to Snow as the male walked back to the camp site with his heart beating to the dozen. He still hadn't forgiven the other male but he couldn't stop feeling the way he did about Snow, it was all happening too fast for him to understand any of it.

Hope that was ok and i know how they met is completely different but the main story line isn't going to be unless you want me to change it. Any comments are welcome and i hope you enjoyed Thanks for reading =P


	4. Chapter 4

**So here we go hope you like this chapter and i know that the chapters haven't had a lot of Snow and Hope moments but they will do soon. This is co written ****by Blaid ****and his OC character is owned by him =)**

The group sat in a circle around the lake that was now frozen, they had seen the ship fall and crash land. Vanille then explained that herself, Sazh and Lightning knew each other already as they had destroyed the ships Fal`cie moments before they had run at Snow being chased by wolves, Lightning had been so quick that neither side knew she was gone but that was how she liked it and how she wanted it to. She wasn't a L`cie to make friends, she was one to save her sister who was now a cold to touch crystal like the lake that now surrounded the group in its frozen form.

Hope sat in Snows lap now fully awake while Vanille sat onto the floor beside the small fire, Sazh was standing behind them yet was leaning against a rock while Lighting stood which her arms folded watching the group in front of her. She could do with them helping her save Serah yet she wasn't sure if she could completely trust them, Snow she felt could be an idiot yet she did trust him. Hope wasn't even worth looking at for her, he was weak and couldn't fight, he was no use to her. Sazh and Vanille could fight but they annoyed the female like hell most of the time.

**Crystallized Lake Bresha, Outside Abyssal Legion's group of Havoc Skytanks**

"Tell me Commander, what do you know of the Bresha Lake?" asked a High Ranked official as he stepped towards the gathering troop of Soldiers, their advanced technology made even those thrown around by PSICOM simple toys.

"Lord Estheim, we know that it crystallized over night, we lost control of the transport carrying Gran Pulse Fal'Cie Anima to Pulse and it crashed into the Lake causing it to return to Crystal!" explained the Commander with a salute and the blond haired official nodded as he paced down the lines of his soldiers.

"Remember, we are Omega L'Cie, far superior to either Pulse or Sanctum L'Cie" announced the official as he continued to pace "we are so much more than either Human or Fal'Cie, we are a new existence altogether outside the machinations of the Fal'Cie and the little plots for power made by the Humans, we will bring a new Dawn to this world!"

"Albion Estheim, if you were a 'lowly human', you could run for Primarch" commented a voice off to the side and the one known as Albion scowled as Oerba Yun Fang stepped towards the group.

"Fang, shouldn't you be implementing your side of the Pincer Attack, my Forces can't attack from two places at once" sighed Albion as he looked for the closest object to smash his skull into, his migraine was back, all thanks to the wild Tribal Girl of Gran Pulse that his lover had picked up.

"Cid wouldn't want you to get stressed, have you seen what Raines is like when you get stressed, he paces wondering what is wrong until he's stressed and that eventually makes the rest of us stressed" commented Fang as she put a arm around Albion's neck in a half hug which the Supreme Commander quickly ducked away from "is my presence so…horrible?"

"Only when you're talking to me instead of LEADING YOUR OWN UNIT!" growled Albion with a look that said he wanted to cut off Fang's Head and stuff it up her ass, cut her into four pieces, dip her in acid followed by setting her on fire before watching her writhe in pain and agony.

"Yeesh, talk about bad company, with you it's all about your orders" muttered Fang with a shrug as she turned to walk away.

"Naturally, I'm a Soldier, getting results through using my mission as a guideline is my job!" scowled Albion before straightening his armoured shirt and making a motion with his hand, the Soldiers saluted their Supreme Commander before marching off down the path, the Commander of the taskforce watched the Supreme Commander start to head up the nearest path up the side of the Crystal Embankment.

"My Lord?" asked the Abyssal Legion Commander as he watched his Supreme Commander continue on his way.

"I'm going ahead to attempt to cut them off, you are in charge Commander until the relief forces arrive, continue with the Pincer attack as planned" announced Albion as he turned to his men.

"Yes sir, all forces move out, shoulder those Pulse Guns and March!" commanded the Commander as he set off down the Lines of advancing troops before turning his head back to look at their Leader whom was on the Handset talking to someone "oh, and sir…good luck, you're going to need it if you run into L'Cie"

"_Albion, the L'Cie haven't perfected their skills and are not living weapons as they are intended to be by Pulse, you have nothing to fear"_ announced a Voice over the Handset and Albion smirked.

"Thanks Cid, I'll be away for awhile, I hope to get back to you soon, my love" commented Albion before closing the Handset with a click, before continuing up the slope.

**Crystallized Lake Bresha, Overlooking the Area: A Silent Maelstrom**

"So, those are the L'Cie, Fang should be in position and I see PSICOM are doing their jobs wonderfully" pondered Albion with a smirk as he watched the group below before pressing a button causing charges alongside the mountain to explode which in turn causes an avalanche of crushed crystal knocking the largest of their group further away from his Team Mates as PSICOM and the Abyssal Legion swarmed the Area as planned "unless I am underestimating him, that L'Cie should be able to deal with PSICOM until Fang reaches him, my forces will continue chasing after the main group of L'Cie however I guess I should get underway to cutting them off again"

**Crystallized Lake Bresha**

Lightnings head turned towards the noise of a fierce explosion as she saw an avalanche come straight towards the group. She yelled at the others to move before running away as the snow fell towards them. Vanille made it safely to Light first with Sazh in close pursuit. However Hope was stuck in the crystal lake and Snow gritted his teeth and pushed the male free, he threw the small male across the crystal until he stopped near Lightning who pulled him to safety just as the avalanche cut at Snow.

"Look after him until i find you" he yelled to the group as the snow took the male of the same name over the edge of the frozen lake.

They watched as the large male disappeared in the avalanche and was thrown downwards. Vanille screamed and covered her mouth while Sazh and Lightning held Hope back who was yelling after Snow with all his might. As suddenly as it had started it stopped and Snows hand appeared through the snow, followed by his body where he brushed himself down at smirked above him at the group. He would have to climb back up. The group all let out a sigh of relief, even Lightning although she didn't even know that she had been holding her breath.

"Cmon hero hurry up" she yelled before turning away from him and walking a few feet away.

Shots were suddenly fired as a group of PSICOM appeared where Snow was standing. Lightning and Sazh fired a few shots back while Vanille grabbed Hopes hand and dragged him towards the path that they had been heading on before being split up. Sazh continue to shoot until one clipped his shoulder causing him to yell in pain and Lightning pushed him backwards away from danger.

"Im getting to old for this" he muttered to himself as he placed a bandage around his wound to stop the blood from pumping round his body.

"Go i can take these freaks, i will catch up" explained Snow to Lightning as he punched a solider in the face before ripping the gun from his hands and taking another couple of soldiers down "Look after Hope, he cant fight"

"Good luck" she said as she nodded and pulled away from the edge pulling Sazh with her and ran towards the exit where Vanille and Hope were waiting and looking anxious.

"Wheres Snow?" he asked them as a piece of crystal feel from behind Lightning and Sazh meaning that they couldn't go back.

"Hes going to catch up" said Lightning as a matter of fact and walked past him and Vanille without saying another word, she continued walking as Hope yelled after her saying that they had to go back.

"He will be fine, that guy can look after himself" said Sazh and he patted Hope on the head and followed Lightning who was the groups only ticket out of the nightmare they were in.

"But.." began Hope with his face bright red and a few tears falling from his eyes.

"No buts" smiled Vanille as she rubbed the tears away "We can face it later"

Hope didn't know what she was saying but mumbled un agreement knowing that he couldn't help Snow anyway and Vanille took hold of his hand before she followed the other two, skipping and humming as she went. Nothing seemed to affect her although that was her shield, she would keep running until the problem disappeared or was solved, thats all she could ever cope with. Thats what she was doing right now running.

**Crystallized Lake Bresha, Overlooking the Area: A Silent Maelstrom**

Albion jumped across one peak of crystal to the next as he calculated where the L'Cie would most likely go, in his experience he knew that only the Gates of Antiquity and the Ruins through them could lead to a place where there was a chance of escape, a ship was docked in that area if he remembered the briefing by the Cavalry spies, a armed messenger's vessel which the crew of died before it could be used, that would be the L'Cie's target if they had a smart leader whom had recorded these small windows of escape.

**Crystallized Lake Bresha, Encased in Crystal**

"We'll stop here for awhile" announced Lightning as she reached a gorge with an airship stuck halfway in the Crystal.

"You think Snow's alright?" asked Sazh as he looked over at Lightning who shrugged uncaring but she had a slight smile on her face.

"I know him, he's a friend of my family, he and his gang have gotten in trouble a number of time and have survived even on times without my help" shrugged Lightning as she thought of their next move.

"How did all of you meet?" asked Hope and Lightning turned and gave a questioning look.

"Me and Snow or Sazh, Vanille and myself?" asked Lightning but sighed as she decided to tell the entire tale "Snow is an orphan while me and my sister become one too years ago, you could say we became friends of sorts because we are kindred spirits, well Serah and Snow became friends which forced me to overlook Snow's gang: NORA"

"Who is Serah?" asked Hope and Lightning sighed but started on that.

"The reason I'm where I am, Serah is my sister and was a Pulse L'Cie, before she turned to Crystal" explained Lightning with emotionless ease as though she were at a debriefing "I learned too late that when I went to save her it was a trap, the Pulse Fal'Cie called Anima had been waiting and branded us, I was on the run from PSICOM when I learned too late that a shard of Anima's Crystal had stayed on my cloths which caused both you and Snow to become L'Cie also"

"We also helped Lightning face Anima, it was a tough one, Anima IS a Fal'Cie after all" commented Vanille as she placed her hand on Hope's shoulder.

"Unlike Vanille who was at the wrong place at the wrong time, I had a reason to be in the Pulse Vestige, I was hoping to defeat Anima believing that it was the Focus of my son whom became a Sanctum L'Cie but that is another story for another day" shrugged Sazh as he patted Hope on his free shoulder before walking ahead with Lightning following.

"Let's move!" commanded Lightning as she continued forwards leaving the rear up to Vanille and Hope.

The young male was still upset about leaving Snow but deep down he knew that it was the only thing he could do, then a light switched in his head causing to burst forward ahead of Sazh and straight at Lightning. She frowned as Hope blocked her path yet stopped all the same before crossing her arms.

"What kid?" she asked annoyed that he had stopped her from thinking about further plans that she was building on.

"Teach me how to fight" he almost demanded yet his voice was still shaky.

"I haven't got time to teach you, i have to save my sister"

"Then teach me so i can help you do that and save Snow" he suggested as quick as a flash.

Lightning muttered to herself and frowned at the kid again while Sazh and Vanille walked past them as they didn't want to get in the way. Hope stood with his fists clenched and his heart beating one to the dozen, he needed her to help him.

"First test is speed, try to keep up" she muttered with a sigh as she burst forward into the wind which made the wind blow through her hair and her sword clatter against her waist.

Hope didn't register for a second then began to run after her, the pair ran past the other two members and turned right at a junction before going across a bridge where Hope fell to the floor breathing heavily. Lightning walked back towards him breathing normally as though she hadn't ran anywhere at all, she then lowered her hand and pulled the male up by his collar.

"Not bad kid" she said with a smirk before letting go of him.

Vanille and Sazh followed the pair with the male moaning about himself bring too old. She smiled and hit the male on the back before skipping towards the other two members of the group with the older male following her, having no choice. He didn't want to be alone not in that kind of place.

"Now where are we going?" he muttered to himself and to the female who danced a bit too much for his liking. He had felt a lot safer with Lightning near as she seemed to be able to look after herself rather well.

"Anywhere" she said with a giggle without looking back and kept on walking forward towards their next destination, she hardly ever looked back and didn't want to.

After half an hour or so of walking the ex solider and the rest of the group, Lightning didnt need to but Hope looked exhausted as did Vanille yet Sazh seemed to be able to cope. Hope looked around and saw that they were nearing some kind of ruins.

"I wonder where we are?" he asked with a frown as he closed his eyes although Lightning wasnt paying attention to the small male as she needed to find him a weapon, at the moment he didnt have one and she couldnt protect him or help him fight if he didnt hold a weapon.

"Where are we?" asked Vanille as Lightning hadnt answred the question.

"Getting ourselves a ship" noddd the female before running into the ruins with the others close behind her. They kept together until they reached a large ship in front of them which seemed operactional although they would have to try it. "Can anyone fly?"

"No wings but that i can" said Sazh with a small grin.

Lightning then pulled her sword out as she heard footsteps coming their way, Sazh pulled out his guns while Vanille pulled out her rod, they all circled Hope who was dead in the the centre as PSICOM soliders came running around them, surrounding them group with their pistols aimed.

"Shit were gonna die" cried Hope.

"Not if i can help it" growled Lightning although she wasnt sure what she was going to do.

**Hope you guys like our chapter together and please please comment on what you thinkkk**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here is the next installment of this fanfic again written by me and Blaid =) Hope you enjoyy this chapter where Snow gets his summon the Shiva sisters and Lights party are helped by someone unexpected by Hope especially. **

**Crystallized Lake Bresha, Echoes of the Past**

Lightning looked about the PSICOM Soldiers as they took aim with Rifles at the group and waited for them to make the first move, suddenly a loud commotion came from the PSICOM reserve forces that were catching up behind them and Lightning gasped at what she saw, a large demonic beast launched itself forward and picked up a PSICOM Soldier in each hand before covering them in a globe of black energy. Once the Soldiers were dropped, the damage to their armour was extensive as their helmets were crushed and as were their body armour, Lightning didn't wait as she charged at a nearby PSICOM Soldier and slashed him causing him to fall away with a groan. Two PSICOM Soldiers took aim on Hope however a Shadow launched itself forwards and pierced the PSICOM Soldiers all the way through, a PSICOM Soldier took aim at the Shadow however the demonic beast from before grabbed the PSICOM Soldier whom kicked and screamed before meeting the same fate as his counterparts, when the Shadow's eyes met with Hope's he gasped.

"Good to see you, Hope" nodded the Shadow as he flicked the blood off his Golden Hair.

"Big Brother" muttered Hope and Lightning stood defensive beside Hope as she glared at the newcomer, Albion Estheim smiled coldly at his brother before looking at Lightning calmly, before giving her a nod.

"My, still the loose cannon? It's been awhile Light" smirked Albion Estheim as he stood at his full height while the beast from before came and stood next to Albion causing Albion to hold up his right arm "does Diabolus impress you?"

"That beast is Diabolus, that means…it's an Eidolon" gasped Lightning and Albion sighed before showing the L'Cie his right wrist, there rested two L'Cie Marks causing Hope to gasp, Albion lifted his arm up into the air causing Diabolus to turn to crystal before fusing with the L'Cie Marks.

"That is right, I was sent by a sponsor to make sure you L'Cie are unharmed, therefore I will be accompanying you until the right time we can meet up with Allied Forces!" announced Albion logically as he stepped towards the Airship "be ready…PSICOM will be waiting for us as we escape"

**Lake Bresha **

Snow yelled in pain as a solider whacked him across the head with the butt of their rifle before he grabbed the others leg and threw him into a crystallized wave which cracked on top of him. Snow chuckled to himself and grabbed the weapon as twenty or so more soldiers appeared before he lowered himself in a defenceless position. He then ran at the group but fell to the floor as his L`cie mark glowed a bright white color. The male grabbed the mark as a ball of water appeared which produced two females that destroyed the soldiers laying around Snow, they then turned towards him as he gulped and rolled out of their sight.

They laughed and one threw an ice spell at Snow who quickly grabbed up a shield from the floor to defend himself with. He was blown back but got to his feet rather quickly which made one of the sisters raise her eyebrows which turned into a smirk and a nod. The male looked at one sister who ran towards him with her hands ready to attack, Snow quickly grabbed a gun and shot at the female but the bullets had no effect on her whatsoever.

He frowned as she swung around and kicked him square in the face resulting in Snow crashing to the floor head first. The male muttered to himself and spat out a small amount of blood from his mouth as he turned to face the female. He picked up two rifles which lay close to him and ran towards the sister where he swung one at her legs knocking her backwards before he jumped into the air and slammed the butt of the other gun into her chest making her yell.

The other sister jumped off a crystallized wave that she had been sitting on just moments before and pulled her sister up to her side. The pair then ran at Snow who clenched his fists together and began to run at the females. As they were about to collide the male threw himself to the floor and the females were thrown into the air then crashed into the floor making Snow grin which disappeared as the females got up again.

"Dont you ever give up?" he asked the two females with a growl in his voice as he clenched his fists and remembered that he could perform spells too "Payback time"

The male laughed as he threw a ice spell from each hand at one sister who was thrown to the floor but didn't get back up. Snow then pushed his hands together and pulled them apart as he created an even ore powerful spell to use before the other female had a chance to get up again, which he threw at the standing sister who yelled as she fell defeated. The two sisters suddenly gripped hands and began to fuse together which made Snow take a few steps back as they transformed into a motorbike.

The vehicle then drove in front of Snow where it parked until he jumped onto it and punched his fist in the air, he knew what they were now. They were his summon, being a L`cie they all had a summon each and they had to earn their trust, he grinned as he realized that he had just done that before frowning as he noted that Hope would have one too. He had to get there before it appeared or it could kill Hope if he ends up on his own.

"Im coming Hope" he muttered to himself as he stared at the tattoo on his wrist which caused the Shiva sisters to disappear back into the mark.

Snow took a step forward towards where Lightning and took the rest of the group yet as soon as he did he felt a staff across his chest from behind him causing the male to frown and turn around to see who it was. It was a dark haired female who took the red staff away and smiled at him before two soldiers grabbed his arms causing him to struggle. The female sighed and pressed her hand to her forehead which she shook.

"Calm down boy, we arent here to hurt you so don't worry" she said with a smile before Snow felt his eyes getting heavy and begin to close before he fainted to the floor "Well not much"

She looked at the large male before gesturing towards the two males who held him, they began to drag him along the crystal lake towards a large ship that Fang and her soldiers had arrived on. She had heard about the Shiva sisters, they were a powerful summon and she was rather surprised that this new L`cie was able to beat them on his own, he must of had a good reason for surviving and a hell of a lot of luck. Fangs mouth opened slowly in shock before her face turned into a smirk as the male stirred, he was waking up, he was one strong male.

"Quick get him on the ship before he tries to get away and gets himself killed" she exclaimed to the other two soldiers who nodded and walked faster until all three of them were aboard.

As soon as the door began to close the ship took off upwards towards the bright sky. Fang would have to explain to Snow why he had to taken by them or knowing how he behaved earlier he would attack them too. Fang didn't need any other reasons to be moaned at, she had enough of them already and was frankly quite annoyed that she was but she had her own reason to be doing what she was doing. She needed to help save Vanille from a fate that was worse then death the only problems being that she had forgotten her old focus and she didn't know where Vanille even was.

She snapped out of her mind as she heard Snow yell from behind her, he wanted to know where he was and why they had him. Fang sighed and turned round twisting her staff along her hands as she went. She lowered herself to his height as he was seated before smirking and started to explain to the large male what it is that she and her group did for L`cie.

Once she had finished she stood up and let the large male sink the information before he got to his feet and grinned. He could help them and that way he would find Hope that much quicker, Snow walked a couple of steps so that he was only inches away from Fang who looked up to face him.

"Im in" smiled the male as he patted Fang on the head "Only until i find them"

She brushed him off and sighed before walking past him and towards another door "Cmon then"

**Junkyard**

The group were making progress through a junkyard of some sorts, Vanille had stopped skipping while Hope was completely exhausted. Lightning marched on in front with Albion close beside while Sazh was looking after the other two youngsters, keeping them going. He didn't like the fact they were a L`cie he hated that kids had been thrown into the uncommon fight.

"Can we rest for a bit?" he asked with a frown "They cant keep this up"

Lightning turned around and sighed before nodding and leaned against an old broken and rusty machine that she was close too. Vanille and Hope let themselves drop top the floor where they layed for a couple of minutes breathing heavily. Sazh sat down near them while the new comer Albion checked out the small group, analyzing each one in turn. He looked at their strengths and weaknesses before looking at the sky wondering if Fang had caught Snow yet.

After a few minutes Lightning rose from her leaning post and looked at the group before walking off again. Sazh got up and helped Vanille rise to her feet while Albion grabbed his brothers shoulder and pulled him up from the floor then walked towards Lightning while Sazh Vanille and Hope grouped together and took up the rear.

A machine of some sorts came running over swinging a blade towards them causing the group to act. Lightning held her sword in her hands and blocked the blade as it swung against her while Albion grinned at the sign of another fight. He swung his twin swords at the back of the machine while Vanille sent an aero spell which threw the machine into the three blades that were waiting for it.

Lightning and Albion grinned until a Dreadnought came marching towards the group sending a flame of fire at Hope who Sazh knocked out of harms way. Vanille ran to Lightnings side where Sazh joined them too. Hope hid behind a pile of broken machines where he watched the giant machine snarl at the small group below him.

Vanille waved her rod which extracted the wires at the machine who got smashed by them a few times before it swung its arm and grabbed the wires before it pulled. Vanille was thrown into the air and landed with a thud where her weapon soon joined the female. She groaned as she tried to get up while watching Lightning in a frenzy.

The ex soldier sent a series of slashes at the machine who took a step back yet carried on fighting. Sazh rolled across the floor as the machines arm swung past him and smashed into the floor which made it crack and the group fell through. Hope was also dragged down the hole where he landed on his face beside Vanille and Sazh yet Lightning and Albion still stood with their swords raised. The male threw himself into the air and swung his swords round which sent a blast from his weapons straight at the machines arm which knocked the attachment clean off. He landed with a grin and looked at Sazh who fired a series of bullets covered with fire from his L`cie magic knocking the other arm off.

The machine yelled a roar and sent a flame at Sazh who was thrown backwards and rolled across the floor to put his coat out as it was surrounded by flames. Hope ran to Vanilles side who smiled before the pair ran to Sazh and looked at the machine that now opposed the two soldiers. Lightning who was now quite frankly pissed off threw her sword at the machines neck then jumped towards it where she pushed the device into the neck line. Albion sniggered as he noticed what she was doing and dug his own swords to the other side of the neck.

It yelled and fell to the floor defeated where the two fighters pulled their swords from its neck which made the machine crackle for a few seconds until it finally went offline.

**Vile Peaks, Mounds of Naught**

"Pulse is crawling with thinks that, isn't it?" commented Sazh as he stepped away from the downed Dreadnought.

"Got me. Not even the Corps has access to Intel on Pulse. Soldiers in the field fight blind" shrugged Lightning as she looked on ahead.

"Yeah, I noticed that. But don't you need to know exactly what you're up against? Not that you or Albion need such information" added Sazh which Albion shrugged at.

"Target's a target" muttered Lightning simply.

"A soldier gets a mission and then they carry it out" added Albion as he leaned against a metal wall.

"You like to keep it simple, don't you?" asked Sazh pointedly.

"I stick to my goal" agreed Lightning and Albion grunted his affirmative.

"As long as you have a goal, you can fight?" wondered Hope before Lightning rounded on him.

"You can stay alive" answered Lightning and Albion nodded his agreement as he took front.

"Survival and animal instinct are a key part of a soldier, it's good to be smart, but good to have basic survival instinct…the will to live" ranted Albion before turning to the group "but enough of that, let's go and keep ahead of PSICOM!"

With Albion in the lead, the group of five headed towards a nearby lake with a crashed Pulse Warship which was half buried in the mud, it was there that gave the perfect chance for the group to consider their options.

"Not much of a future for us" complained Sazh as he looked out across the Lake.

"Hard to picture a happy ending" agreed Lightning as she stood next to Sazh while looking up at the sky while Albion leaned against the Airship's framework.

"We don't even know where to go" complained Sazh which Albion simply grinned as he looked up at what Lightning had been looking at previously.

"I do. There" nodded Lightning as she looked up at what she was looking at earlier.

"Eden? The Sanctum's seat of power Oh, that a great idea. Just charge right in there. Give them a taste of L'Cie terror!" chuckled Sazh but stopped when he noticed something "you're serious?"

"Keep running its die or turn Cie'th. There's no place for L'Cie to hide. No...They want a fight? Let's take it to the Sanctum's door!" announced Lightning and Albion gave an insane chuckle.

"Now we threaten priests, what fun! I always did like your plans, Light" smirked Albion as he stepped forwards however Sazh then snapped around on them.

"This isn't a game!" argued Sazh however he went quiet as soon as he noticed the cold flame in his eyes.

"I hate the Fal'Cie of the Sanctum, let Cocoon burn, let it get what has been coming to it" scowled Albion as he glared at Sazh "we are puppets on a string thanks to those Fal'Cie, maybe it should be the other way around, maybe they should kneel before ME!"

"This is a game? No. That's for damn sure. It started with Serah. The Fal'Cie took her. Now I'm a L'Cie. And the Sanctum's hunting me, an enemy of the state. But who's pulling their strings? A Fal'Cie. Eden. Cocoon's Sustainer and Guiding Light. It probably ordered the Purge, too. Pulse and Sanctum Fal'Cie? There are all the same. And were' all the same to them: expendable. I'm not dying a Fal'Cie slave" announced Lightning simply as she paced away from the group.

"So? What are you going to do?" asked Sazh as he considered his own options.

"Destroy it" answered Lightning simply.

"There is something I want destroyed on Eden, something I need Ragnarok for, Ragnarok is needed to destroy the seed of the Fal'Cie's power and allow my Artificial Fal'Cie to take over to strip the Sanctum and Pulse Fal'Cie of their immunity to all but Ragnarok!" announced Albion as he walked past Lightning "therefore, Light's Goal coincides with my own"

"By yourself? What, are the two of you crazy? Say you pull it of...What's that get you? Satisfaction? Something happen to Eden, its lights out Cocoon!" countered Sazh but gasped when he noticed something "You want that. You're a Pulse L'Cie now, so you just want to snuff out Cocoon!"

"No! What about Serah? She said to save Cocoon! It might even be our Focus to make sure Cocoon stays " started Vanille however Lightning cut her off.

"Our Focus doesn't matter. I don't take orders from Fal'Cie. How I live is up to me!" countered Lightning causing Albion to grin deviously.

"Don't you mean how you die?" added Sazh and Albion went back to glaring at him.

"Think like that, and it's already over. Better to pick up your path and keep moving. Don't worry. I'm after Sanctum. I'm not out to destroy the world. If it did come to that, wonder if our 'hero' would try to stop me?"

"You want to fight Snow now? Just like that, and you're enemies?" asked Sazh however Lightning shook her head while Hope stared to each person with a nervous expression.

"Only if he gets in my way, next time we meet, we might be too" countered Lightning as she walked off.

"Come along" smirked Albion as he pulls Hope along "you want to be able to fight, don't you? Then stick with me and Light"

"But i" started Hope causing Albion to guess what Hope was about to say.

"But you don't have a weapon" answered Albion before pulling something out of his pack "here you can use this for now, it's a combat boomerang, called Sky Shark"

Albion ran after Light with Hope close behind and as though she had noticed them she came to a stop and waited for them to catch up, Hope came to a stop panting while Albion skidded to a stop just past Light, and he sighed as he turned to face her.

"We're going with you" breathed Hope and Albion agreed.

"He wants to get stronger and to travel with us is the greatest choice he can make down that path" shrugged Albion but tensed as he saw soldiers appear.

"Great, a PSICOM hit Squad" announced Lightning as she got defensive, suddenly the Commander of the hit squad pressed a button causing the area behind them to collapse as an explosion lit up the metalwork.

"First fight isn't gonna be easy Hope" sneered Albion as he drew out his swords and ran forward.


	6. Chapter 6

**Well i hope you like this chapter written by moi and co written by Blaid =) Mainly about Sazh and Vanille but it also includes the Odin fight and some small parts with Snow and Fang so please read and please comment and give feedback so that we know we are doing a good job !!**

**Sunleth Waterscape, The Old Growth**

"Fresh air, nice" sighed Vanille as she walked out of the tunnel spinning around to reveal a forest region.

"So? Where are headed?" asked Sazh and Vanille shrugged.

"Don't know" answered Vanille as she turned her head to the side.

"You don't know? I thought you had somewhere in mind the way you took off" sighed Sazh as he walked ahead.

"I followed the smell" commented Vanille as she skipped to keep up.

"What?" asked Sazh in disbelief.

"It smells nice. All naturey" answered Vanille as she continued forwards while Sazh sniffs around.

"Just smells damp. And I think something bit me" groaned Sazh however Vanille looked up as she saw something before gasping.

"Hide!" commanded Vanille as she pushed Sazh down as ships flew by overhead.

"A Skyfleet. Closest city that way is Palumpolum. That is not good. I wonder if those three were caught in the net?" muttered Sazh as he waited until the largest amount of the ships had passed over.

"What do we do?" asked Vanille as she worried about Hope and Lightening.

"What can we do? Right now, what can we do?" countered Sazh and Vanille nodded her head in agreement.

"Right, no choice. We run…the other way" announced Vanille as she walked off followed by Sazh,

"Which would be…to Nautilus" answered Sazh with a nod.

**Vile Peaks, Scavenger's Trail**

"Enough! You're a Liability! The whole world's out to get us. I can barely keep myself alive, let alone some helpless kid! I don't have time to baby you. You want to get tough? Do it on your own!" announced Lightning as she directed her argument towards Hope after the group had survived various fights against PSICOM yet Hope was still behind and constantly falling over.

However her Brand suddenly reacted and Albion smirked as Odin appeared before charging at Hope which Lightning moved to protect

"This cannot be happening. Look out!" she yelled.

"Move!" commanded Albion as he pushed Hope to the side while ducking under Odin's first attacks.

Hope was thrown to the floor as the Eidolons sword swiped where he had been standing moments before causing the small male to gulp. Lightning meanwhile was fighting Odin with her own sword causing fearsome sounds to echo around them as their swords connected to each other with such force. She yelled as she was thrown back by a thunder spell yet quickly flipped back to her feet where she stared at her untamed summon.

Albion pulled Hope to his feet who was still slightly shaking and his eyes were stuck onto Odin who was slicing at Lightning again. His older brother sighed in anger before he out stretched his swords and struck the summon from behind which made him yell and twist towards the male soldier. It aimed a thunder spell at the male before swiping its sword at him which connected with his armour for a split second yet he jumped into the air and threw a ruin spell at the creature. Lightning took her chance and dug her own sword at the creature who yelled in pain and suddenly covered itself in electricity which it blew around it in a blast.

Both fighters were thrown to the floor and had to grit their teeth as they got up, he was trying to paralyze them. Lightning yelled in anger and aimed her sword back at the creature before her while Albion made his way to Hope who was running towards them with a glowing hand. The small male fired a holy spell at Odin who was thrown backwards off of its feet while Hope dropped to the floor breathing heavily. Holy spells caused the most damage yet drained a lot of energy until they were mastered.

Odin yelled and threw itself at Hope who was rooted to the spot, Albion grabbed his brother and pulled him onto his back before he dodged the slashes from the summons swords. He ran and flipped over the creature using its shield to propel himself further. Albion landed with a thud causing Hope to let go yet he soon got back to his feet and Lightning ran past the pair with her sword high.

The female jumped into the air and sliced at Odin who deflected the blows, Lightning then aimed her own magic at the creature throwing a thunderbolt which hit the creatures chest making it double over for a split second but that was all she needed. Lightning sliced her sword against the summons chest before grabbing its shield and throwing it to the floor. She landed and smirked to herself when the Eidolon noticed that it couldn't defend itself anymore.

Light swung her sword at the figure again who blocked with its sword yet a holy spell hit the summon in the chest. Lightning turned to see Hope standing and using a few holy spells at the creature making her smile before she ran at Odin and run her sword into one of the holy spells. Her sword using the power to boost her own and as soon as she connected the weapon to Odin`s chest the summon yelled in pain and jumped into the air.

Odin began to transform as its legs flipped over to form hoofs and his body twisted round. Soon enough in the sky was a golden horse that began to run at the group leaving a trail of thunder behind it. It stopped when it reached Lightning who picked up the figures sword in her own hands with a frown before shrugging and jumping on the horse where it began to glow.

"Well done, you have tamed Odin" clapped Albion as he watched the Eidolon sink back into Lightning's brand.

"Lightning! Your brand looks different. Was that an Eidolon? Like L'Cie can summon?" asked Hope and Lightning groaned.

"Magic and mumbo-jumbo, I must've hit my head at Snow's apartment" complained Light as she rubbed her forehead as she started to walk off.

"Um...Am I really in your way?" asked Hope and Lightning scowled slightly at the question "I'll do better! I'll try harder, I'll"

"Hope. We'll toughen you up. I'm sorry about before" sighed Lightning as she led them on ahead "Oh and for the record good job back there".

Hope beamed before looking at the sky hoping that Snow was ok and hoped that they would find each other soon. He wouldn't tell the other two but he missed the male a lot and well he had to admit to himself that he loved Snow which he was determined to tell the large male when they met again, after all they didn't get separated on very good terms.

"Im waiting for you Snow" he muttered before his brother yelled at him to get a move on.

**Sunleth Waterscape, A Shimmering Sky**

"Hey, Sazh, tell me about yourself" spoke Vanille as they came to a stop at the top of a large cliff.

"Huh?" asked Sazh confused.

"Any family?" wondered Vanille as she sat down on a stone.

"I have a little boy" answered Sazh sadly but almost did a double take when Vanille jumped excitedly to her feet.

"Oh! So you're married!" giggled Vanille as she stepped closer to Sazh.

"I was, yeah" answered Sazh sadly while Vanille was a burst of energy.

"We gotta get you home. Your son needs you!" announced Vanille before carrying on with encouragement when she saw Sazh's sad face "Come on, we'll make it!"

"It's too late" sighed Sazh as he started forwards.

"Is it the L'Cie thing?" commented Vanille solemnly.

"How'd you…" started Sazh but Vanille cut him off while putting her hands on her hips with a serious expression.

"You might be a L'Cie, but you're still a daddy. So, what's his name?" asked Vanille as stepped in front of him.

"Dajh…" said Sazh as he looked faraway in thought.

"Sazh?" asked Vanille and Sazh looked up suddenly.

"Huh?" asked Sazh as he was surprised.

"You're alright?" wondered Vanille and Sazh nodded slightly.

"Oh. Yeah" agreed Sazh as he got his mind back to the matter at hand.

"Come on, Pops! You really got to keep it together, okay? Now…let's go?" announced Vanille as she started off.

"Now I've got kids looking out for me. Some dad I am" sighed Sazh before he headed off after Vanille.

**Sunleth Waterscape, Near Rain-spotted Vale**

"You look tired. Not enough sleep?" asked Vanille after they finished making their way down hill.

"I guess" answered Sazh as he moved to sit down.

"Not surprising. Cute girl like me, it's hard to close your eyes, huh?" joked Vanille as she put her hands on her hip and stood tall.

"I'm just gonna lie down for a bit" muttered Sazh tiredly as he lay down and took a nap while Vanille spoke to Sazh's Chocobo Chick.

"Being made a L'Cie, it's not easy. I mean, look, even I'm kind of worried. But even if we don't know what'll happen, we have to keep our dreams alive. Have something to look forward to, you know" commented Vanille as she spoke to the Chocobo Chick which bounced up and down in agreement.

"Next stop is Nautilus…City of dreams" announced Sazh as he closed his eyes to sleep.

"Yup" agreed Vanille as she also lay down to sleep.

**Later**

"What? Sazh?" asked Vanille as she awoke and noticed the Chocobo Chick to the waterfront where she found a Sazh deep in thought and decided to spook him "Sazh?"

Sazh fell back to the floor before saying "You scared me"

"What up?" asked Vanille curious as she watched Sazh stand.

"I'm just thinking" answered Sazh distantly.

"Don't blame yourself. You know, you can't control who a Fal'Cie picks for its Focus" muttered Vanille as she tried to cheer Sazh up.

"My son Dajh. He was picked. He's a L'Cie. He said he wanted to see a Fal'Cie. So, I took him on a tour of the Euride Gorge plant. Though I'd surprise him with a Chocobo chick to take home, but the second I turned my back...into the energy plant he went Apparently, those Pulse L'Cie had snuck in and tried to attack the Sanctum Fal'Cie. It did the only thing it could, and make a Dajh a L'Cie to protect it. My son, he got picked by a Sanctum Fal'Cie. He's a hero. But were' Pulse L'Cie…Dajh's enemies. PSICOM showed up right after that to take custody of him. And then, it was one test after another. Even then they couldn't fight out his Focus. Maybe it was look for Pulse L'Cie, maybe it was to kill them. Either way...how could a kid that young stand a chance?" explained Sazh sadly as he turned away before drawing one of his pistols "After he was made a L'Cie, Dajh had some way of sensing things from Pulse. He was the one who found the Pulse Fal'Cie. But the kid can't fight. So, that's why I put myself on the road to Purgeville. I figure Focus has to have something to do with destroying the Pulse Fal'Cie. Though I could do it for him, and, well...You know the rest. If I was right about his Focus, he's probably a crystal already. Of course, of he was suppose to take our that thing L'Cie...that either we die, or he's a Cie'th"

"Die? Really?" asked Vanille sadly unknowing to the one before her the secret that she was hiding.

"It's a pickle all right. But the bird the bird says no" answered Sazh as he walked ahead which Vanille paused before following.

**Cids Ship, Somewhere in the clouds**

"You must be Snow. Names Cid Raines. Brigader Feneral of this fleet" said a male as Snow was brought into a large room by Fang and the two soldiers from earlier.

"Hi Cid thanks for the escort" exclaimed Snow in a sarcastic voice and pushed them off of himself so that he could fold his arms

"I apoligise but it had to be done and i have a few questions to ask you. If it works like they tell us, that means she must have fulfilled her Focus no?"

"You leave Lightnings sister alone" snapped Snow sure he needed know her too well but still she was related to Lightning and thus a friend to him.

"As a tainted Pluse L`cie" muttered Cid as he looked at Fang who shrugged at him.

"You think she wanted to hurt Cocoon?"

"I'd hardly be alone if I did. When it comes to Pulse, who could claim to know anything? I need the truth, for the sake of Cocoon"

"The sake of Cocoon.." repeated Snow with a frown before he began to shout "We're from Cocoon! Shipping us, Purging innocent people...That's how you lend us a hand?"

"Those are the Sanctum's methods not ours. The public fears what it doesn't know. It's grown tired of living in constant terror of these treats from the World below So, the Sanctum devised a plan for you l'Cie"

"Yeah i bet they did" snapped the large male.

"A public execution. The people don't know any better. Strike down the phantoms before their eyes, and they sleep like babies" said Cid in a calm voice

"No they cant do that" bellowed Snow.

"They can and they will. The Sanctum has intelligence on the other l'Cie already. It's only a matter of time."

"Hope..." he muttered "You wont catch them"

"We want to help them and you can help us" said Cid with a small smile before nodding at Fang who patted the male on the shoulder before speaking.

"Remember what i told you before and you wanted in? This is it and if you want to survive i suggest you grab with both hands"

Snow looked to the floor and gritted his teeth before he looked back at the two figures. He looked from Fang to Cid then back again, he felt that he could trust Fang but he wasn't sure about Cid. Snow knew that he wouldn't stand a chance on his own, he had to find the others and maybe with the males help he could.

**Sunleth Waterscape, Hemmed in Stone**

Vanille and Sazh walk through a cave entrance into an open area and gasped at what they saw, the Woodwraiths known as Enki and Enlil lay there asleep and Sazh sighed quietly remembering what he had said to his faithful Chocobo, he never could quite get a break.

"Uh-oh. That's not good" groaned Sazh lightly as he looked for a way out of that mess.

"What do we do?" whispered Vanille in question and Sazh made a hand gesture meaning that he understood.

"All right, I got it! We sneak" announced Sazh just quiet enough so that the pair of monsters wouldn't hear him as he began to sneak around the two.

"Right" agreed Vanille as she followed suite, however moments later Enki moved its head, then it moved to stand.

"Just too much to ask to cut me one break, isn't it?" complained Sazh as he prepared his pistols while Enki bellowed.

"Come and get it!" shouted Vanille as the bellow awoke Enlil as Vanille drew her rod and prepared to fight.

Enki charged forwards sending a burst of water when it landed in front of Sazh which sent the man rolling onto his back with a yelp, he rolled out of the way at the last moment as Enlil fired a bolt of lightning from its maw at the downed Marksman, Vanille cast a Thunder spell at Enki sending it sprawling across the floor however it soon got its balance and charged yet again. Vanille gasped as Enlil was about to shoot a bolt of lightning at her however well aimed shots from Sazh which was strengthened by Fire Magic sent the Wraith reeling back causing its aim to be off, the shot instead hit Enki which yelped in agony, Vanille and Sazh took this opportunity to hit Enki with rounds of Lightening Magic before it disappeared in the most peculiar manner, they dodged the charges made by Enlil before attacking with Water and Wind Magic causing its death.

Sazh looked at his palms before frowning at what he had just did, he had automatically used magic without even knowing he could which meant that his L`cie power was getting stronger although he was confused as Vanille seemed to be able to control her spells rather well, he noted to himself that he would ask her about that later.

"Well, they were odd, unlike any monsters I've ever seen" commented Sazh and Vanille stepped closer to him while pondering.

"I think they were Wraiths, I heard a legend from where I was born that said that if an Eidolon helps its L'Cie and that L'Cie then either dies or becomes a Cie'th, those Eidolons become Wraiths" commented Vanille "or that is what I've heard"

"Oh, well now let's go. It's a hop, skip, and jump, and we're in Nautilus" announced Sazh as he looked towards the open cave's exit.

"The 'City of Dreams'..." pondered Vanille as she followed Sazh whom had gotten moving again.

"If only we were dreaming up those clouds" announced Sazh with a nod as black clouds covered the skies.

The two of them exited out the back of the hollowed cave to see a fence covered in electricity at the bottom of the hill, they noticed that the fence was there to stop monsters from going near the Airship Station, noticing a hole the two ducked through it and walked closer to the station.

"We can board the ship over there" nodded Sazh however it started to rain heavy making the two quickly get under cover "when it rains around here, it pours. And then it rains some more"

"Sazh...Do you hate Pulse?" asked Vanille as she walked back and forth under the cover.

"Why wouldn't I? Look at this mess it gotten us all into! Of course, that's

not to say I always hated it. Seemed fishy. All that Sanctum ranting about the 'threat from Pulse.' 'Only a matter of time before their strike.' 'Pulse is infested with monsters.' Scare after scare, and not even a shred of proof" commented Sazh as he looked out at the rain "tired old cynics like me, we don't just swallow that tabloid crap. No, no. Not me. I figured the Sanctum was up to something crooked. At least until I got dragged in"

"Yeah..." sighed Vanille sadly.

"Now that I think about I, all this Pulse business...it really only happened because Dajh found that Pulse Fal'Cie in Bodhum" muttered Sazh however Vanille then looked hysterical.

"You're wrong. Don't blame him. It was all…" started Vanille however Sazh cut her off.

"Yeah, you're right. It was that scum from Pulse behind it" announced Sazh causing Vanille to run into the rain to disguise her tears.

"You're getting soaked" commented Sazh as he stood and walked over towards her.

"I'll be fine. It's only water" countered Vanille with a smile.

**Cids Ship, Somewhere in the clouds**

"Okay lets hunt some L`Cie!" yelled Fang as she ran into the main area of the ship.

Snow ran close behind and watched as the various soldiers were getting ready to land the ship. He shrugged and walked the last few steps to Fang where he frowned at the female. He still wasn't sure what they were going to do but he couldn't fight the others, he wouldn't do that.

"We find them and thats it right?" he asked rather forcefully.

"Calm down man and yeah" she answered as she brushed her hair from her face before hitting Snow on the head where she shook her hand from the pain "I knew you were hard head but still"

"Ow" he mutterd to himself.

"Let go" she said still holding her hand.

"Yeah yeah alright im coming" he said chasing after Fang as she ran towards the exit doors of the ship "Im coming Hope as fast as i can"

**Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed =P**


	7. Chapter 7

**Heres the next chapter and i hope you like (co written by Blaid)**

**Gapra Whitewood, Ecological Research**

"It's been awhile since I've been in here" sighed Albion as he stepped into the Whitewood before turning to Hope "don't expect ethics or mercy here…you'll find none"

"This is where the army make Biological Weapons" commented Lightening but noticed the door close behind them "not getting out that way"

"It also stops them from pursuing" noticed Albion pointedly as he stretched slightly however Hope also added something of interest.

"But aren't there troops on this side? We can't relax just yet" commented Hope and Lightening nodded.

"Right. We press forward. I take point, you watch our backs" announced Lightening as she walked forwards.

"Actually...Why don't you let me take point?" asked Hope and Lightening stopped and watched Hope curiously.

"Can you handle it?" asked Lightening questioningly.

"It's not a question of can or can't" answered Hope and Albion grinned.

"Now you're learning" smirked Lightening as she motioned forwards "keep your eyes front. I'll watch the rear"

"Got it" agreed Hope as he waited for Lightning's order.

"I'll scout ahead" announced Albion and without waiting for an answer jumped up onto a nearby branch and started jumping from tree to tree ahead of them while out of sight from the Bio-Weapons below.

"He's always on the move, let's go" nodded Lightening and Hope headed off ahead.

**Gapra Whitewood, Bulkhead Fal'Cie**

"Abra! (Open!)" commanded Albion as he looked up at the energy gate created by the Fal'Cie before walking through as the beams of energy disappeared.

"Have you been here before? On duty, I mean" asked Hope and Lightening shook her head.

"No, I haven't. This area's covered by the Woodlands Observation Battalion" answered Lightening as she turned to face him "you scared?"

"Not really. I'm ready to fight if I have to" answered Hope as he walked past Lightening except she grabbed his arm and handed him something which he recognised as a folded Knife.

"To keep you safe. I'll want it back" announced Lightening as she headed off ahead but stopped when she heard Hope call her name.

"Lightning. I'm glad I followed you. By myself, I would've no chance" announced Hope and Light sighed before nodding.

**Gapra Whitewood, Environmental Regulation**

"What is it?" asked Lightening as she paced behind Hope whom pulled her undercover quickly.

"We need to Hide!" announced Hope as he pulled her under moments before Guardian Corp Soldiers pass by overhead "they don't seem like they're even looking for us. I mean, we're L'Cie and we're on the loose, they seem only interested in that alarm that we tripped back there"

"PSICOM's keeping it all under wraps .They don't want their failure publicized. Better they lose us then their pride. So you're right, they don't know anything about any fugitives" shrugged Lightening before she continued on.

"Sounds like Jhil Nabaat's doing, I don't see Yaag Rosch risking everything over injured pride, at any rate we should keep moving" agreed Albion as he walked off ahead.

**Palumpolum – Capital of Commerce**

Hope, Lightning and his older brother Albion made their way from the Whitewoods and appeared just on the outskirts of both males old homes. They looked towards the soldiers that were all over the place, they were looking for L`Cie, for them. The female frowned as she looked through the amount of people that they would have to go through, even with both males help they would eventually get caught and they didn't get that far for nothing.

"Now what" she muttered looking for another way in before Hope appeared behind her and smiled.

"We can make to the station and board the train for Eden" he explained before his brother tutted and shook his head "What?"

"Chances are it's not running" he said with cold eyes.

"Then we make it run" countered Hope.

"Then punch straight into the heart of the Sanctum? Now you're thinking like a Pulse L'Cie" said Lightning with a grin before Hope butted in again.

"The sanctums gonna pay! You're the one who said we had to fight. Ever minute we waste, we're tempting fate. There's some underground tunnels not far from here. I used to play in them as a kid No one uses the entrance anymore, so even the army knows where it is. But I do. We can sneak in under their noses"

"Sounds good" agreed Lightening.

"Play in tunnels?" muttered Albion with another shake of his head "We are using his play area to get through?"

"You got a better idea?" snapped Hope who was too annoyed with wanting to see his family and wanting to find Snow again, his Snow.

No one said a word so Hope slowly crept his way towards the tunnel that he had talked about, Lightning soon followed with Albion close behind. They group jumped into the tunnel with no soldiers seeing them whatsoever. They crept through the dark tunnel until light crept in from their left which Hope jumped through before Lightning pulled him back into the tunnel.

"No more rivalries now. PSICOM's brought in the Guardian Corps" she hissed as one ran past them "We don't have to fight everything"

"It's only one we can take it" snarled Albion as he jumped out of the hole before stabbing the male through the chest with both swords making him yell out loud.

Lightning sneered and jumped out of the tunnel with Hope close behind her before she hit the male on head and was about to have a go when two more Guardian Corp soldiers turned up. Hope pulled out the new weapon that he had been given while Light extracted her sword and Albion held his more firmly ready to fight again.

"We will finish this later" she told him before turning towards the two males and rushing forward.

Hope aimed a holy spell from his hand at one of the males who was thrown into the air and Lightning jumped into the air where she swung her sword into its armour cracking it. However the figure got his balance and pulled out his rifle which he shot at Lightning who yelled in pain as it hit her arm causing blood to spray her attacker. Albion ran beneath the female and caught her before landing where he looked at her wound.

"Summon Odin, he can heal you" he told her.

For once Lightning chose not to complain and threw her crystal into the air which she shot at from the ground causing Odin to appear beneath it. Her summon roared and looked at Lightning before using a heal spell which healed her wound. The female smiled before herself and her summon charged at the two soldiers. Odin used a thunder spell at the male with the cracked armour letting the female slice into his chest. They both fused their spells together to finish the first one of while the other began to run away from the group.

"He can't escape" yelled Hope.

Odin jumped into the air and turned back into its horse form which Light jumped on carrying her summons golden weapon. Lightning sent a bolt of her magic at the solider which caused him to fall over making Lightning laugh. She jumped off of Odin who charged at the male while she threw the sword at figure. With a scream the male solider was defeated and Odin returned into Lightning's mark where she sighed before turning to look at Hope and his brother.

"Let's go" she told them slowly.

"Okay, There's an old drainage pipe. We can use it to avoid being seen. The tunnel entrance is a little further up" explained Hope pointing towards it.

The three began to walk towards the pipe Lightning had forgot about her fight with Albion but he hadn't and he was slightly annoyed that she had had a go at him. The male was far higher than she had ever reached yet she felt that she knew it all, at least that's how he felt she was like.

"You are a Soldier and Soldiers kill, it's just who we are" he muttered to Lightning yet she only stopped for a second yet decided to ignore the comment and keep walking.

**Palumpolum, Nutriculture Complex**

They were now inside the pipe and were looking at a large complex of various machines. Hope walked in first and was followed by the other two who looked over the area taking everything in. Neither had even heard of this place before and that said something because Albion had lived there before but he was sure that the Soldiers would eventually find it.

"Don't worry, it will be fine. Only kids like me know about this entrance" Hope explained with a smile.

"They will find it eventually and then..." began Lightning.

"They'll call in a team and canvass the whole tunnel system" finished Albion taking a few steps forward as a platform came towards them "We need to hurry"

"Where does this end?" asked Light as she gently pushed Hope and herself onto the platform that began to take them to the other side.

"Well I... um... I... don't really know" admitted the male slightly embarrassed.

"Were going to find out today then" she told him smiling.

"It exits at the Agora, the Stadium at the Heart of Palumpolum, it's also used as a storage Facility during the times in which the rest of Cocoon is in difficult times" answered Albion to Lightning's previous question.

The platform reached the other side and the three found themselves face to face with some type of sludge creature with a flashing light on its head. Lightning nodded to Hope who took a step forward and aimed a holy spell at the creature while Albion did the same yet with a ruin spell. The two hit the sludge which yelled as it got hit but the light upon its head began to glow and the figure healed itself much to Lightning's surprise. She pulled her sword from its holster and gestured to the others to get closer which they did as they extracted their own weapons too.

"We have to do this quick" she told them making both males nod and rush forward.

After the fight Lightning saw a faint glimmer in the distance and as they walked towards it she noticed what it was and blew threw her nose with a shake of her head. It was a Fal`Cie but Hope and Albion didn't pay much attention to the figure.

"That's the city's food-production, name's Carbuncle. That's one of our enemies, being Sanctum" explained Hope where he brother nodded yet turned away from it in disgust.

"Kill him, and cut off the food supply. That will make us popular" coughed the female crossing her arms.

"I think people hate us enough already, don't you?" asked Hope looking to Lightning and then to his brother who had kept walking and was out of ear shot "We don't want to give them any other reasons"

"Yeah, you're probably right. Hungry people make for angry people" she muttered before turning around and continuing alone the path with Hope beside her.

"¿Cómo ha sido usted, el Carbunclo? (How have you been, Carbuncle?)" asked Albion as he looked over to the Fal'Cie, Lightening looked confused however Hope seemed to understand every word Albion was saying in that strange language, moments later a loud Southern voice answered from the Crystal that was the Fal'Cie.

"Oye, Albion, yo veo usted completó su Foco que di usted. ¡Ahora es puesto, lo que derecho hace Barthandelus tiene sobre Historias teje, deseo un mundo donde ayudo la humanidad de guía de Omega en un mundo donde los reinados de descanso de historia en Manos Humanas! ¡Es el Mesías de esto, aunque yo no lo pueda forzar sobre usted, esto es su nuevo Foco!! (Hey, Albion, I see you completed your Focus that I gave you. Now you are set, what right does Barthandelus have over Histories weave, I desire a world where I help the Omega L'Cie guide humanity in a world where the reigns of history rest in Human Hands! You are the Messiah of this, even though I can't force it upon you, this is your new Focus!!)" announced Carbuncle in a Southern Accent and Albion bowed slightly.

"This Focus I do accept" announced Albion in plain English as he turned to walk away however something came flying at him from Carbuncle causing Albion to catch it, Hope immediately recognised it, the item in question was a Carbuncle holographic disk like those whom were used at Nautilus to project Carbuncle's original form when he acted in the Parade while his present body remained trapped as a Fal'Cie.

"What was that about?" questioned Lightening curious and Albion shrugged with a smirk.

"Just getting reassured by an old friend" answered Albion before he walked on ahead.

They made in up a few floors with only a few fights in the way, most were against the sludge type creatures again but some were also against a few other creatures which were far worse. One of them had thrown Hope into the water nearly by Lightning managed to summon Odin to save the male. She was getting the hang of her summon now but she still wasn't sure if she liked using magic so kept that as minimal as possible.

Hope needed a short rest so Lightning stayed with him while Albion went off ahead with both his swords already drawn looking for a fight. The female watched him until he got so far that she had to squint her eyes where she turned her attention to Hope who was leaning over the edge looking at the Fal`Cie which seemed to still glow fairly bright from the floor that they were now on.

"What's up?" she asked as she leaned next to him.

"Just a bit strange that we are following a Sanctum Fal`Cie when we are Pulse L`Cie"

"Not really. We've relied on them our lives" began Lightning as she stood to her full height "The food the light and water, it's all from the Fal'Cie. You know, I think Cocoon was really built for them"

"What about us?" asked the male.

"We're just leeches. Parasites"

"You think?" said Hope with a frown as he thought for a bit before speaking "They protect us, nurture us. They take care of us, well normal people. They treat us like we're special, almost like...we're pets. Thats it Lightning that's all we are to them pets"

"Like pets. To them, we are just pets." she said before clicking her fingers together when her head was suddenly clear "That's it. Now it makes sense. I've been so blind. I was born into a Fal'Cie world, raised on a Fal'Cie leash. It was the only life I know how to live. When it was taken from me, I was completely lost. Without a master to follow my life had no purpose."

"What?" muttered the young male.

"Hope, listen to me. This L'Cie curse, it took everything. My future. My dreams. I didn't want to think. So I fought instead. As long as I was fighting, nothing else was real I was running away. And you, Hope. You got swept along with me and for that I'm sorry"

"No! You told me to fight!" he yelled at the female who looked into the others eye with a small smile.

"I made a mistake!" she snapped back at him.

"So what do we do now? We're L'Cie, ticking time bombs. Enemies of our home. If we can't follow the plan, do we just lay down and die? Is that what you want?"

"We don't give up, i never said that"

"Then what battles do we fight? And against who?"

"I don't know but we can't lose Hope" she told him as she slammed her fist against the railing, she was angry at herself not at Hope.

"There isn't any not for L`Cie and not for us"

"But there is you Hope" she said quietly.

"It's just my stupid name" he told her "Not who I am"

"I was just like you. My parents died. I have to be strong for Serah, so I thought I needed to forget my past. And I became Lightning" she explained before walking away from Hope to the other side of the platform "I thought by changing my name, I could change who I was. I was just a kid Hope, like you now. Lightning. It flashes bright, then fades away. It can't protect all it does is destroy. Serah tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen. I threatened her for gods sake, my own sister. I didn't believe in her till it was too late"

"I know! There nothing I can't do. I hate knowing that. No matter what happens, she's not coming back, my friend is dead because of that stupid purge and I can't do a thing. When I was fighting, there was no time to think about it. It felt good just to give in and put it at the back of my mind. But now you start talking about hope. You can't do this Light. You can't just build something up like that, then abandon me." he told her "Your just like everyone else"

"I'm sorry Hope I really am" she told him as she pulled the small male towards her for an embrace "I will never abandon you, ever"

"Snow did" he told her as a tear fell down his face and splashed onto the floor below him. He tried to hide the tears but Lightning wiped them from his face.

"He didn't abandon you, he saved us by distracting the guards"

"Then why isn't he here?"

"There must be a reason that he can't be and when he catches up he will tell us" she told him with a serious face "He loves you Hope, even I can tell that"

"You think? I miss him Light" he muttered gently.

"Tell him that when we regroup" she said as she got to her feet before turning around to go and lowered her hand to Hope which he took.

Ten or so minutes later they made it out of the tunnel where Albion was waiting for them. He jumped off of a platform and shook his head before gesturing for them to walk ahead of him which the two figures shrugged and did.

"Now you might keep a steady pace" he said in an annoyed voice.

"Talk to you parents when we meet them" said Lightning as she walked besides Hope who frowned and looked up at her "Fighting without hope is no life. It's just a way to die. I want you to find the hope you were named for, you need it. Staying alive, I can help you with. I can't give you hope you need to find that yourself but I'm here for you to hold on to remember that"

He slowly nodded and looked at his feet causing Lightning to look ahead of them as Albion ran past them with his swords raised. They were in a stadium and it was practically full of soldiers and they all had their rifles on the group.

"Not even you can get us out of this" muttered Hope to his brother as the pair of them went either side of him, covering the small male.

"These are L'Cie. Show no mercy. They aren't people. They're targets." said a voice from somewhere in the stadium as Yaag Rosch stepped along the top of his Havoc Skytank.

"We can try" exclaimed Lightning "Hope run we will keep them busy"

"But" muttered Hope.

"No buts little brother, just survive till we get out of this" hissed Albion so that no one else could hear before shouting aloud with a smirk on his face "Hey, Rosch, it been awhile!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Hope and Snow reunite and get a bit passionate haha i know you've been waiting for this so here you go. Written by moii**

**Palumpolum - The Stadium**

Fang and Snow looked down as a large military group took aim on three figures. She automatically knew who the male was but frowned as she noticed the other white haired boy before looking back at Albion then back again. They looked fairly similar but he had never mentioned his family so maybe they were related. She noticed that the male she didn't know would most likely be the one that Snow was after so she looked towards the large male who was staring below them.

"Bingo thats them right?" she asked as she withdrew her staff from behind her "Whats the plan?"

"Heroes don't need one" expressed the male before smirking at Fang and exposed his tattoo which threw a crystal out of it.

Snow grabbed the crystal and threw it around himself before throwing it forwards where a sphere appeared full of water. Two figures moved from within it and gradually got faster until the sphere was frozen which then shattered as two figures appeared from within it that landed beside Snow, the Shiva sisters had been summoned. The male then threw a gun that he held at Fang who caught in before frowning towards Snow who smirked as he looked at the sisters who nodded and fused into their bike formation.

"Lets do it" said Fang as she got the picture and jumped on the bike after Snow had.

The male gripped the handles before he drove it over the edge creating a spiral of ice that filled the whole stadium, the bike made its way down while Fang fired and the soldiers below. Lightning and Albion were joining the fight within a second and were slicing their way into the troops on the floor. Hope however was sending various spells at people who targeted Snow, no one was hurting him not now that they were so close to being reunited.

"Its him" yelled Hope as a grin spread across his face.

Lightning and Albion fought their way out as Fang continued to shoot the remaining soldiers before the gun ran out which she threw to the floor before jumping off with her staff raised. Snow parked the bike as he reached the bottom and jumped off of it where he ran towards Hope. Above them Rosch retreated on the ship leaving behind a few soldiers.

Hope made him way towards Snow who stopped when the males reached each other, Snow wasn't sure if the male was still annoyed with him. Hope smirked and wrapped his arms around him causing the large male to laugh and lift him into the air where they shared an intermit kiss for a few minutes before breaking their lips apart to breathe. They then rested their foreheads together breathing heavily.

"I missed you Snow" muttered the small male before blushing slightly.

"Me too kid, i missed you too" smiled Snow kissing the other on the forehead.

Albion sighed as he watched them kiss before he leaned against a wall then turned away from the figure to come face to face with Fang who slammed her hand on his back with a grin making the male moan. He shook his head and walked off towards Snow and Hope, he would rather be with them then with her.

"You two are going to make me puke" he muttered at them yet the pair ignored him.

"Take him and get out of here" yelled Lightning "Protect him with your life"

"Always will" shouted Snow lifting the boy on his bike as he sat down upon it "Light Serah is alright she will turn back"

"Go we will talk later" she yelled as she ran towards more soldiers with her sword raised and Fang was right beside her "Lets do this"

Snow pulled the accelerator down as Hope held onto the males waist tightly. They sped through the various soldiers leaving both females behind who were fighting around them. Albion began to run after the males until he shook his head and summoned one of his creatures known as Diabound which looked like a black lizard type creature with a giant tail, long black horns and piercing yellow eyes which stared at his enemies.

Albion ran beside his summon as it transformed into a dark colored bike similar to Snows although it had two wings sticking out of the side of it. The male jumped on his summon before he drove it into the air slightly following Snow and Hope who were below him. Neither of them noticed as they were far too busy making their way inside the coliseum by driving through one of the ice tunnels. Albion sighed and flew over the walls of the coliseum waiting for the pair to get to him although they would have to go all the way round to do so. Albion wasn't sure that he could handle them kissing all the time as they looked liked they wanted to rip each others clothes off. He called back the summon into his tattoo and found a spot where he layed to relax for as long as he had to until he heard a fearsome growl causing him to stand up and oppose a pack of wolfs.

"This will be fun" he muttered to himself drawing those swords that had defeated many.

Meanwhile inside the stadium Snow and Hope had just fought against two guards and both had held there own which made the larger male laugh and grin at the other. When they had first met he hadn't fought in his life now he almost seemed to be a pro and could hold his own easily.

"You've got stronger, toughened up" he told the male as he picked up a Dual horn.

"Im a L`Cie i had to" said Hope before turning to Snow and pressed his hand gently on the male arm "Where were you? You didn't follow us why?"

"I got taken..." he began.

"What?" gasped Hope quickly.

"Not like that. It was the Cavalry, not PSICOM. Leader's name is Raines. He said he'd lend us L'Cie a hand. So now, your hero is back"

"Im glad you are but why would they help us?" he muttered to himself more then Snow "We better go before Albion gets annoyed with me again"

"Who is he?" asked Snow slightly worried they could of gone out in the past.

"My brother"

"Oh right" he said with a small grin as he kissed the other male on the lips, gently at first but then he got more passionate causing Hope to wrap his arms around the others neck and moan ever so slightly "Been wanting to hear that for a while"

"You can hear more later, first lets get out of this place" said Hope grinning.

All of a sudden a phone in Snows pocket began to buzz making the male frown as he saw who it was. He picked it up and flipped it towards his ear while Hope looked around them to make sure they were safe, they seemed to be alone for now.

"Its me whats up?" asked the male.

"You damm know what, i gave you the phone to call me with, why havnt you?" asked Fang with an annoyed voice "What is your status?"

"Sorry slipped my mind. We are great, Hope too and the other guy is i think. How about you?"

"I'm great, you're great, everybody's great" she muttered as she handed her phone to Lightning "Reunion time. Figure out a rendezvous point. Don't sweat it. That line's hyper-encrypted"

"No time for chit chat We'll meet at Hope's place. Felix Heights 35-A" she told the male who nodded in response although she couldn't see him "Look after Hope with your life"

"All over it and see you there" smiled Snow as he looked at Hope "With my life"

The phone suddenly died and Snow placed it in his pocket before looking at Hope with a wink causing the small male to frown. They took a few steps forward before Snow explained where they were going to regroup.

"Looks like your taking me back to yours. Your parents home?" he asked with a smirk as Hope nodded backing the male shake his head "Pity"

"Cmon lover boy" laughed Hope as he walked past him making Snow grin and follow.

**Palumpolum - In The Streets**

Fang and Lightning stood by some large buildings as they brought their breathe back from fighting against the amount of soldiers that seemed to be there, it was almost like an army. Lightning looked at the other females brand or her L`Cie mark and frowned as it looked different to her own yet Fang caught her looking and just sighed.

"Who are you?" asked the ex soldier gently.

" I got a few screws loose. But I'm a L'Cie, same as you. Difference being I wasn't born on Cocoon im from the world you all hate so much Grand Pulse." she began as she leaned backwards yawning "My partner and I'd turned to crystal there and gone to sleep after completing our first focus and we woke up here. When we came out of crystal stasis, we didn't remember our Focus or what we'd done. All we could do was wander Cocoon, looking for what we'd lost. We got attacked and had to fight our ways out i protected Vanille and told her to run by the time i was done, Vanille was long gone. After that, Raines and his Cavalry found me. I never stopped searching for Vanille, but I couldn't find her. Her, or our Focus"

"Vanille iv met before she went off with Sazh, a man who got turned into a L`Cie like us" she informed the other before frowning.

"Snow told me and im going to find her this time!"

"So Serah will come back too?"

"Yep, me and Vanille didn't do our focus right and make her a L`Cie because of it, sorry bout that"

Lightning saw fire and slapped Fang across the face who stood upright and cupped her face with a smile, she had expected the female to hit her after what Snow had told her about Lightning. Yet she didn't expect her to hit so damm hard.

"That it? Only one?" she asked in a surprised voice waiting for Lightning to hit her again.

"You better hope so"

"Glad i apologized what a load off" she said stretching.

"You apologized so you'd feel better?"

"Guess so. You feel better after hitting me?"

"Not really" muttered Lightning as she stared towards Fang.

"Tell my jaw that" she said cupping it with both hands.

Lightning smirked before turning around and pointing into the distance at a large building causing Fang to follow Lights eye line and nod. She walked beside her and risked a quick look at the other female, she seemed to be fine know but then again the hit did come out of nowhere so she couldn't be too careful at all.

"Hopes place is up there, still a fair bit away"

"Time to pick it up then"

Lightning nodded before following Fang forward where they came face to face with a bird like creature who hissed at them. Fang jumped over its head before raising her staff which she then swung into the birds side letting Lightning get her sword out and ready. She ran to the bird who send a thunder spell at her causing her to stagger for a split second, the bird then grabbed her by the waist and threw her into the air.

Fang saw what was happening and swung her staff again before using the bird as a ramp to push herself in the air where she grabbed Lightning and put her upright. The two landed side by side and both sent fire spells at the bird who cried out in pain before Lightning fired her weapon into its chest causing to to fall to the floor with one final yell.

Both females stood side by side as two more bird creatures appeared making the pair sigh before running at them. Neither really wanted a fight but they knew that those birds would kill them if they didn't fight back, it was kill or be killed and neither was going to die easily. It took a short while before both females stopped fighting as they heard the birds final cries. Fang walked to Lightning who was placing her sword back in its holster before she looked up. Light had her thinking face on which she didn't to get rid of by asking Fang a few questions.

"The others are safe, right?" she asked worried about Hope and even Snow but far more about Hope "If any of us caught, there'd make an announcement"

"They'd have to let everyone know that the the big, bad L'Cie can't hurt 'em no more. These Cocoon people are a bunch of cowards" said Fang with a slight hint of anger in her voice which was the first time that Lightning had seen her temper.

"Cocoon people as you put it have spent centuries under fal'Cie control, in constant fear of a Pulse invasion If it weren't for Serah, I'd have been out there too. Hunting L'Cie, you, Snow, Hope you would of all just been targets, nothing else just targets"

"Dont blame yourself Grand Pulse is just as twisted. They told us that Cocoon was a nest of vipers and that we had to make the first move before you did"

"So you turned a L`Cie to fight these vipers and your focus well our focus know is just that to destroy Cocoon"

"Until we woke up here, we'd been in crystal stasis. Which means, we must've complete our first Focus" she said before getting slightly agitated again "Why can't I remember that part? My childhood's clear as day. But the one thing I need--it's just gone. Blank. Like an empty page. I reach for the memory, and nothing. Then there my brand, it's all messed up. Vanille and me, we lost our past and our focus"

"And now, you want to find them. Be a Pulse L'Cie. An enemy of Cocoon?" asked Lightning slightly confused with why Fang would go through that trouble.

"Pulse and Cocoon can rot for all I care! If I don't figure out our Focus soon. Vanille's gonna be a Cie'th. I'll tear down the sky if it'll save her" Fang informed the female who nodded Lightning would talk the same way about Serah.

**Palumpolum - Rooftops**

"Felix heights is over there?" frowned Snow "Long way to go"

"Yeah it is but L`Cie don't get it easy do we?" he told the other with a small smile "Albion will probably already be there knowing him"

"We will do im sure, its a great place for family living according to that sign and your my family, so its right all we got to do is reach your parents house and introduce me" he winked making Hope turn away from him which in turn made Snow frown. "Hope?"

"My parents don't know about me liking guys or me being a L`Cie its going to kill them i know it is" cried hope as a few tears fell down his face "Snow what do i do?"

Snow walked to Hope and embraced the small male before kissing him on the forehead and rubbed the side of his hip gently. Hope looked up as he tried to wipe his tears away causing Snow to smile at his male lover.

"I will be with you always" he said with a small smile "If they don't accept you then i will make them"

"But.." began Hope.

"Move!" yelled the larger male.

Snow pushed Hope to the ground as PSICOM soldiers appeared firing their rifles like crazy, he managed to get them behind a metal grate which blocked the shots but the soldiers began to get closer to them. Hope looked up to Snow as he extracted his weapon while Snow extracted claws from his dual horn weapon. The pair then nodded at each other as Snow jumped over the box while Hope sent an air spell at the soldiers who were thrown into the air. The larger male stabbed through one of the soldiers straight away before he sliced at another one who managed to dodge it and fired back. He felt a shield block the blast and looked at Hope and smiled as he held his hands in front of his lover. Snow nodded before fusing his weapon with holy magic off of Hope and sliced at the last two soldiers who were thrown off of the rooftop yelling.

The pair ran to each other before yelled and Snow turned to see two missiles being fired at the building that were standing on. The blast knocked them back while flames began to sprout everywhere, more missiles appeared and were all aimed at the building. Snow tried to make him way to Hope but he was too late and the small male was thrown off of the building. The large male yelled and jumped off afterwards grabbing the other as he did.

Snow covered Hope, taking the blunt of the fall as they tumbled from the building as explosions were still being fired around them. They both passed out as they connected with the ground after falling through other rooftops which cushioned the blow. They pair layed as various objects fell around them causing thumping sounds to echo but neither male woke up for a while.

Finally after what seemed like hours Snows eyes opened and he looked around at the wreckage before wincing at the pain in his chest, he was bleeding but the wound wasn't too dead although he would need to heal it soon. Apart from that he only had cuts and bruises like Hope who he crawled his way too, the small male was completely out of it.

**Palumpolum - In The Streets**

Lightning and Fang stood looking at the buildings that they were heading towards, they were getting closer now, Lightning just hoped that Hope was safe. She had connected with the small male on the trip and thought of him as another younger sibling.

"Lightning?" asked Fang frowning a little.

"Call me Light"

"You didn't see Vanilles brand did you?"

"No why?"

"It shows you how long until it's Cie'th city, You start getting more arrows, and then finally an eye. Once it opens all the way, you're done for"

"Really?" muttered Lightning in which Fang nodded in response to.

"Let's have a look" said Fang walking towards Light who tried to turn away "Not even close you still have time although.."

"What?" asked the female with a raised eyebrow.

"Some people, doesn't take so long You get a nasty shock, it can speed up the process. Vanille's brand must be pretty far along by now. I've got to save her and get home"

"To Gran Pulse?"

"Yeah" said Fang with a nod "I hear that the Sanctum prevents people from leaving Cocoon. I'd like to see 'em try"

"So, that's your plan. I wish had one" said Lightning walking forwards as she began to explain "Without Serah, without a future, that's nothing to plan for. There's no way out of this mess, and no way to fight it. I'm stuck trading blows with the Sanctum, but that's no plan. Even if we topple the government like Albion wants us too. Where's that leave us? With nothing to fight for? I might as well be dead"

"You sister. You've got plenty to fight for. Think about it. Don't you want to see Serah, after she wakes up? That's your future right there. All you've gotta to is survive. It's simple!"

"Rightttt" murmured Light with a small shake of her head.

An explosion was shown from a few buildings in front of them as air flips flew over head making Fang and Lightning spring to attention. They looked at where about the ships began to land which made Lightning yell out loud.

"They found them" yelled Fang.

"Snow" she muttered to herself hoping that he was protecting Hope.

The girls ran forward towards the explosion both pulling out their weapons as the went, they woul fight whoever and whatever it took in order to get to Snow, Hope and Albion. No matter what they would be safe, Lightning would make sure of that.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry that this has taken so long it was due to computer problems but i am back now and ready to continue this story **** CO Written by Blaid and hope you like ... please review**

**Palumpolum, Felix Heights**

"Albion!" shouted a voice and he stepped off to the side to see Commander Blaze of the Abyssal Legion.

"I'm surprised to see you, hiding away, are we?" smirked Albion as he looked at one of his loyalist Commanders.

"I have a report here you may be interested in, you have shown the ability to understand and speak the ancient language that only the Fal'Cie remember, this is because of the genetics in your family" announced Blaze as he stepped forwards with a sour expression as he handed a data pad over "you may be surprised"

"So…" announced Albion as his face took on a sickly tone "I am descended from the Fal'Cie's main goal, in all right I should have the power to destroy Fal'Cie…but I don't, I'll attempt to provoke its awakening"

"Also, we are ready to rebel when is convenient, the Fal'Cie have ruled us long enough, I say!" announced Blaze and Albion nodded as he turned to walk away "what are your commands?"

"I want you to have the fleet head for Asura, a Fortress created by the Ancients in the name of the Eidolon Goddess, the Cavalry are also to go to that location should Cid disappear" nodded Albion and Blaze bowed as Albion walked away.

"Albion!" announced a voice as Albion cut through an alleyway and Rosch stepped out of the alleyway "what are you doing!"

"Helping L'Cie or do you want a more definite answer?" questioned Albion with a grin causing Yaag Rosch to groan as he shook his Silverette hair.

"Answer the question, what about Barthandelus?" asked Rosch and Albion nodded slightly.

"You know deep down that Barthandelus has no love for we humans, you know what he is going to do, I plan to take history's weave out of Barthandelus' hands!" announced Albion with a sigh "for that, I need the Pulse L'Cie and any Sanctum L'Cie that are available, the interesting things about certain Focus…is that there are always Loopholes to lengthening one's Focus"

"Here" announced Yaag as he handed over a chip "it has an encrypted frequency that overlooks the Jamming, it also has my personal contact link on it and it's expected to be functional at exchanging Frequency Range all the way from Pulse, make my defeat look good and believable…"

"Alright" announced Albion as he punched Yaag in the gut causing him to drop to his knees as he drew his Gunblade high and prepared to slash down, he smirked when two PSICOM Soldiers looked into the alleyway much to plan before doubling back on himself to confuse the Soldiers before heading to his true destination.

"Sir…are you alright?" asked a PSICOM Soldier and Yaag shrugged him off.

"Only a Flesh Wound, well? Go after the L'Cie!" commanded Yaag Rosch as he headed past the Soldiers.

**Palumpolum - In The Streets**

Snow grabbed Hope and placed the male onto his shoulders where he grunted from the pain still in his chest. He however knew that he had to get Hope out of there he had promised not just himself but Light as well and he knew that the female would kill Snow himself if the small male wasn't brought back to her. Sometimes the female could be very possessive of things that she cared about.

"Come on Snow you can do this" the male muttered to himself as he began to walk forwards "Got to keep moving"

He walked forwards a few meters before he began to run down the street and hopefully towards where Hope lived he couldn't quite remember due to his head pounding so hard that he thought it would explode. Snow shook and head and told himself that he was going the right way as he noticed two females running towards him bringing a grin to his face, Lightning and Fang.

Snow laughed at his luck yet suddenly feel to the floor, too weak to do anything else, Fang reached him first and checked both males pluses. She nodded to Light to show that they were still alive when Hope opened his eyes to see Lightning pick him up and hug him tightly.

"Don't ever scare me again" she told him grinning.

"Try not to" he muttered weakly "Snow?"

"He will be fine but we need to get to your place" said Fang standing to her feet "It's getting dark and that's when the real soldiers come out to play"

"Can you walk?" asked Light gently.

"I think so"

"Good you lead the way while me and Fang get this so called hero and carry him"

"There goes my back" muttered Fang with a sigh.

Light rolled her eyes and helped the other female pick the male up before they nodded at Hope who walked forwards slowly at first but gradually he got faster until the pair about an hour or so later after a couple of fights they reached Hopes home which they walked into to find Albion already there.

Snow was carried into a spare from where Hope wanted to stay with him yet Light told the male he had to explain to his parents what had happened to him and the group. Hope knew she was right but still he wanted to know that Snow was ok he looked so weak.

**Later…Palumpolum, the Estheim Residence - Indoors**

Albion scowled as he leaned against his bed and looked at his nearby computer screen while considering all the data he had gained from his scientists, the Maker whom had orphaned both humans and Fal'Cie was in fact his a million times over a million generations removed Great Grandfather, rather there would be more Greats before Grandfather than Albion even wanted to consider at this time and age. Even if that were true, Albion had no possible means in which to push these genetic traits out into the open, to awaken the Maker's dormant power and use it for his own, the power to destroy even Fal'Cie and to force mass change on Cocoon and Pulse. Of course like any human born, Albion wanted to test his boundaries and what made him laugh was for that very reason was why Humanity had begun picking up weapons and killing each other in the first place, the Humans had forgotten their commands from their Maker and started warring while the Fal'Cie instead became obsessed with reviving their departed divinity, to that end they were willing to kill billions of lives as a…fitting sacrifice.

"Barthandelus is the Lord of the Sanctum Fal'Cie and Orphan is the Fal'Cie turned battery that feeds Cocoon with its power…to the point it keeps it floating in Pulse's skies, I would have to find a replacement power source for Cocoon as a means to replace Orphan, essentially if I had the power of the Maker I could even create a new source of power that would replace a Fal'Cie and I can imagine the pain that Orphan has to go through with his present life" muttered Albion as he stood up and walked out of his room to see Fang leaning against a sofa which Nora sat on looking at her son along with the rest of the group "I assume you have questions for me?"

"When did you become a L'Cie?" asked Nora as she watched her eldest whom sighed slightly before answering.

"Fourteen Years ago" answered Albion as he watched Nora's face darken with the announcement "I went to father and he hid it from the rest of you, I had to complete my Focus, meaning I couldn't have interruptions"

"Which Fal'Cie branded you?" asked Fang and Albion smirked at her.

"Carbuncle, a Sanctum L'Cie, that makes me a Sanctum L'Cie…or I was" answered Albion as he rubbed the bridge of his nose as Fang tensed at the announcement.

"Was?" asked Lightening and Albion answered as calmly as humanly possible.

"I was turned to Crystal, you may think that there is freedom at path's end however that is anything but the truth, after turning to Crystal you sleep and then you are a Fal'Cie puppet…forever" answered Albion with a sigh "I found a way in which I could escape such a fate, WHICH was my Focus, I joined the Abyssal Legion whom used the Omega Fal'Cie to revive me while free of any Focus"

"What about that strange language that you spoke in the Nutriculture Complex, Hope tells me he understood everything you said as though you were speaking English, what is that language?" asked Lightening which Albion coughed before announcing.

"That is the Ancient Language, a Language used by the Ancients whom could speak to the Eidolons and Fal'Cie, that was the early language and only a rare handful can now reproduce that language" answered Albion simply.

"You know our Focus?" asked Fang and Albion nodded "then tell us!"

"All I can say, that it is connected to Ragnarok, the Eidolon of destruction" announced Albion simply as he stepped forwards "what were you talking about while I was busy?"

"We were looking for a way out of this L'Cie business, what our options were, that sort of thing" commented Bartholomew Estheim as he looked amongst the group however suddenly the Light went off "what…"

"Mum, Dad, get in the back room…we have uninvited visitors!" announced Albion as he drew one of his Gunblades.

**Palumpolum, the Estheim Residence**

A Havoc Skytank took aim at Hope's group from behind however Albion moved in the way of their firing lock, a roar of energy that knocked all Soldiers nearby to the ground roared from Albion as he raised an arm as a purple aura overcame it, pointing the hand at the Havoc Skytank before an Orb of Large Purple Energy encompassed the Skytank before exploding which resulted in Albion falling onto his knees before eventually falling to his side and unconscious.

"A…Albion!" shouted Hope as he ran over to his brother's side and at the same time a Red Haired Commander stepped over to him as well "who are you?"

"Commander Blaze, Abyssal Legion, a simple servant of Lord Albion" announced Blaze with a grin as he looked over Albion's face "so, he attempted to use that power…"

"What Power?" asked Hope and Blaze looked at him confused before smirking.

"Its nothing however I can assume he used too much magic, Cavalry forces are coming to your aid, make sure that he gets some rest" announced Blaze simply as he stood and disappeared into the crowd of retreating Soldiers.

Hope frowned yet his attention was suddenly on three figures coming from his now destroyed house, Fang, Light and Snow. The male ran to him where he kissed him strongly before turning towards the men leaving.

"We have to get out of here, they can heal my brother and Snow and i can't let anything else happen to them"

Light although a bit resistant nodded and pulled Snow towards the ship with the help of Fang who sighed and moaned about her back yet again. Hope let out a small laugh yet helped an unknown male lift his brother towards the ship also. They were getting out of here and with one final look on his home where his parents were safe from being hunted, he stepped onto the ship.

"What's the plan now?" he called.

"We get Vanille" said Fang and it wasn't a suggestion.

"And Sazh" nodded Light.


	10. Chapter 10

**Heres the next instalment hopes you like **** Written by Moi and the next instalment is what all of you have been waiting for... some fun between Snow and Hope so Chapter 11 will be for you. There will also be another couple for a little bonus as you haven't had a lot of pairings till now but until then hope you enjoy this one.**

**City of Dreams **

"Not a lot of security here. For these people, the l'Cie panic must still seem like a world away. Oh, hey. Looks like they're putting Eidolons on Parade. It's starting soon. What do you say? Let's check it out?"

"Yeah sure" muttered Vanille wanting to see the group again, they had been separated for so long she wasn't sure if she could take much more.

The pair then turned to walk away when the tv in front of them switched itself on to show Light and co being caught before just as quickly going off again but not before Vanille saw Fang with the group making her walk to the now black tv and run her hand along the screen.

"It was her"

"Light and them will be fine, they escaped otherwise they would show the whole capture" explained Sazh "Now the parade awaits"

The pair made their way to the parade where discs began to fall all over the crowd and various little creatures seemed to float from them and soar back into the sky. A scene is then played between what was believed to have happened many years ago about pulse and cocoon and their summoners fighting it out with the Fal`cie eventually winning due to the aid of Valefor.

"Funny that the ones hunting us seem to be weaker than L`cie yet they won all those years ago huh?"

"I suppose" said Vanille trying to get off of the subject.

"Where to now?"

"You can choose" she said knowing that eventually she would have to leave and find Fang sure Sazh was welcome to come with her but she didn't feel that he would after all his son was around the city somewhere. "I insist"

"Ummm Oh i know a Nautilus Park date with the one and only me"

"Yeah but should we really be playing around?" asked the female frowning.

"Forget about that heavy stuff for a while and maybe it will fade away if not then we can sort it out later" he told her "Ok?"

"Okay" she said nodding slightly trying to sound that she believed him even though she knew for a fact that things wouldn't just go away in fact the longer she left things the worse she felt and the often got worse. She would have to come clean to Sazh soon about his son and what herself and Fang had done to me, that they were the ones who had made the small boy into a l`cie and sealed his fate.

"Vanille come on" called Sazh from a few feet away.

"So whats in this park anyway?" she asked after a few minutes of walking towards their destination.

"Well its an amusement park built by Sanctum, hah and us l`cie are going in bet they never thought of that did they?"

"Yeah, this place special?"

"Well i promised Dajh" explained Sazh as his thought tightened a little "I was going to bring him some day i just hope that at least i can tell him about it"

"Your get the chance"

"I suppose, well i know where he is so"

"Then what are you waiting for? You reckon i could come with?"

"Sure!" he said smiling a little "You got anyway out there?"

"Special like you have your son? No"

"That's kind of sad

"Yeah" she said slowly as a tear fell from her eyes at the thought of Fang.

"Im only kidding, i didn't mean to upset you" called the male as Vanille stormed off.

"Im fine thank you" she called yet was walking quicker as she went.

**Petting Zoo**

"Oh god the smell, I'm glad i don't work here, couldn't cope with that at all"

"It reminds me of home" said Vanille without thinking before she covered her mouth and took a quick inhale of air .

Luckily for her however the small bird that lived in Sazhs afro took that moment to fly off causing the male to chase ir and forget what Vanille even said. She smiled before running after the pair laughing as she went.

"At least he's having fun" she called.

The Chocobo chick suddenly appeared behind some older ones and flew towards the pair into his owners hands where he placed him back into the afro. Vanille caught up to them as the larger birds ran around them chasing various things that the pair couldn't exactly see.

"Always good to be among friends"

"Yeah fun times are doubled and your worries are far away"

"Nothing ever seems as scary when you have times to spend it with"

"Yeah" said the female with a grin "Your still number one of course"

"Haha thanks Vanille now when i see Dajh i can tell him all about this place, hes being held by the military"

"PSICOM?"

"Yeah seeing as hes a Cocoon l`cie they wanted to run tests to figure out his focus, there was nothing i could do about it which is why..." he began before breathing deeply and facing Vanille "Im going to hand myself in"

"No! They will execute you!"

"I know but im sure they will listen to a final request right? I want to talk to my son just one more time to tell him about everything I've seen"

"Wait you can't"

"I don't want you to worry you aren't a part of this, i will give you plently of time to run before i give myself in"

"That's not what i meant and you know it!"

"I'm sorry, i can't do this anymore I'm tired of running"

"But-you can't! What about Dajh? He's a l'Cie because of someone from Pulse!.You can't give up without getting revenge" she yelled at him knowing that this was her moment "I know who it is. I know whose responsible. For the accident. The accident at Euride"

"What?" shouted Sazh "Tell me"

He ran to Vanille until there was hardly any space between them and grabbed her shoulders, Vanille wiped her eyes before looking into the males opposite her. It was time for him to know the truth so Vanille was going to tell me straight about what had happened.

"The person who ruined your life and your sons was..." she began before a bullet shot past her and smashed into the side of a nearby wall. "What?"

"Soldiers run Vanille" yelled Sazh pulling out his weapons and standing in front of the female to protect her.

"No way" she shouted back as she extracted her staff from her holster which she held in her hands "Together"

The female swung her staff so that it extracted the familiar wires out of the end which wrapped around one of the soldier's waists so that she could throw him into the wall behind her. He hit it was a clunk while Sazh fused the bullets from his pistols with his fire magic causing the other males to be blown back and fire to separate between the two.

"Go!" yelled Vanille as she grabbed the males hand and ran off away from the flames and the soldiers who were trying to get through the fire.

The pair ran for what seemed like five or so minutes when another lot of soldiers crossed their path there was about six of them and one of them was a robotic type male. Vanille waved her hands in the air to form a ball of the gas with her magic which she then threw at the feet of one of the males, the blast threw him upwards where Sazh fired an array of shots to defeat him.

"Three left" yelled Sazh as the robotic solider ran at him swinging his arm into Sazh who was thrown backwards to the floor.

Vanille swung her rod which extracted the wires from it which whacked into one of the human attackers legs causing him to fall. The female then used her air magic in fusion with her arm making the air like a knife which sliced through the males chest who groaned as his eyes closed.

Sazh was back up but was now in trouble as the mechanical male was far stronger than him. He looked around for anything that could help but there was nothing around him whatsoever. He gulped and decided to fire a flame at him to slow the machine down as fire seemed to not actually hurt him. Vanille however appeared from nowhere to fire a rifle from one of the soldiers straight into its face at point blank range. The machine fell to the floor like a ton of bricks.

"Thanks"

"No problem" smiled Vanille.

Sazh then pushed the female to the floor and fired his pistols the last attacking figure that didn't even get half way towards them before he fell. Vanille sighed as she got to her feet and looked at Sazh, he seemed distant like he wanted to be somewhere else or with someone else.

"Sazh?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok?"

"Im fine just want to see my son that all"

Vanille was about to speak when a gigantic machine crossed their path causing them both to get ready to fight yet again. It took them a lot of magic, effort and will power to defeat the creature but once they had the pair felt stronger than ever almost like their powers had groaned.

A door opened from where the rubble of the machine lay and the males son ran out of it towards Sazh much to Vanilles shock. The male embraced Dajh before smiling at the male.

"Why are you here Dajh?"

"Because you promised Daddy!"

"But.. how did you get her son?" he asked quickly.

To the pairs horror Dajh suddenly turned to crystal causing Sazh to kneel at the boy's side as a few tears fell from his face. A female walked towards them with various soldiers behind her the pair where now trapped.

"Your sons focus was to capture undesirables and serve Cocoon in the process. You should be proud of him"

Vanille looked at the female and remembered her from back at the power plant and she knew by the females stare that she remembered her too. She then saw a disk in her hand which she threw at Sazh.

"Dajh was a great help. He could sense power of Pulse origin. That let us monitor you. Words can't express our gratitude The data he proved on enemy l'Cie , and speaking of gratitude We enhanced the surveillance footage from the energy plant. Those are the Pulse l'Cie behind what happened. The picture's a little grainy, but I'm sure you recognized. You've spent so much too together." said the female Jihl.

"Vanille?" muttered Sazh as he saw the clip of the plant.

"Yes. That young lady's terrorist assault at the Euride Gorge is the reason Dajh was made a l'Cie. Ironic, isn't it? The very girl you're protecting is the one who stole your son" laughed Jihl.

The female looked at him and nodded slowly before tears fell from her eyes and hit the cold floor where she then turned and ran through the door that Dajh had come through moments earlier. Jihls soldiers went to follow her but the female grinned and stopped them before she addressed Sazh.

"You want us to finish her or would you prefer to Sazh?"

Sazh got to his feet and without another word he ran after Vanille causing Jihl to laugh as he saw the male pull out his pistols. She then looked at her soldiers who were waiting for her orders.

**The rooftops**

Sazh ran onto the roof of the building where he found Vanille with her back to him crying her heart and soul out. The male would of felt sorry for her if it wasn't for the fact that she had caused him so much pain and that she had cause his own self to be turned into crystal.

"Vanille" yelled Sazh as he finally caught up with her.

He pulled out one of his pistols and aimed it towards Vanille who shut her eyes for a split second before standing up onto her feet. She turned to face the male that she had been travelling with for so long.

"My name is Oerba Dia Vanille and I'm a l`cie of Gran Pulse and to everyone on Cocoon evil" she told him with a frown as she raised her arms beside her "Shoot me for your son"

"Don't you even" growled Sazh as he waved the gun around making Vanille jump backwards slightly "You think you die and everything will be sugar and rainbows?"

The female shook her head as Sazh shouted louder and louder making her cry even more, she didn't know what she had to do or say to make the event ok, maybe there was nothing that she could do.

"Then what can i do?" she pleaded back to him as bigger tears dropped to the cold floor "What do you want from me? If i can't live or die then what do you want me to do?"

"Don't ask me, you figure it out" muttered the male clutching his chest tightly as he began to feel like it was burning.

"I don't know i don't know" she yelled dropping her weapon to the floor which hit the ground with a slight bang.

"That makes two of us" he told her as he lowered his weapon to its holster before turning away from the female and falling to the floor "It's over, there isn't anything to do, shooting you won't help yet neither will living"

His brand suddenly reacted as a red glow came from the male causing a blast to erupt propelling Vanille backwards and onto the floor with a scream. Sazh then yelled as flames surrounded him and shot upwards into the sky to form a sphere shaped ball full of flames. The ball suddenly exploded causing an eidolon to fall to the floor in front of Sazh who looked at the figure with no fear in his eyes.

"Do your worst you freak!" yelled the male trying to get the flamed creature to kill him as he couldn't think of a way out of what had happened to his son "Come on!"

Suddenly to his surprise Vanille appeared in front of Sazh with her hands out stretched protecting him although she was still crying. The female figure built of flames just laughed and began to walk towards the pair yet Vanille didn't move.

"Move Vanille it's finished" yelled Sazh.

"It's not over" she yelled still protecting the male.

He was shocked that Vanille would risk her life for him after what was said yet maybe she was truly sorry. Sazh took a split second decision and got to his feet where he fired his pistols at the figure walking past Vanille who wiped away her tears as she picked up her rod, ready to fight. Sazh lowered his weapons and looked the flamed female in the eyes where she yelled at the pair.

"You want me?" he asked with a smirk "Come and get me"

Bryhilde, the female eidolon ran at the pair with her weapon held firmly within the female's hands. She then launched herself upwards before crashing down in front of the pair who quickly moved out of the way. Sazh fired a various amount of bullets towards the summon who screamed in fury as it swung her weapon knocking the male into the throne that was behind the group.

Vanille screamed after him before wrapping her wires around Bryhilde and her weapon which she detached from her hand in a quick motion. She then tried an air spell at the creature yet instead of helping it caused more damage and the flames around the eidolon began to erupt around it even setting the floor on fire.

"Sazh" yelled Vanille as she backed away from the other female.

The male rolled across the floor shooting as he went before grabbing Vanille and running back behind the throne. Bryhilde took this chance to pick up her weapon again which she then used to throw herself to the throne. She swung her weapon which destroyed the back of the throne making the rubble fall upon the pair of l`cie underneath her.

Vanille screamed again yet swung her rod upwards to deflect the flames attack while Sazh moved from the rubble and threw a piece of it at the creature who yelled in agony as she fell to the floor. Sazh saw that the rubble turned to water when it touched Bryhilde for some strange reason which neither him or Vanille, he guessed from her expression, could understand.

However the pair soon picked up the rest of the rubble and threw parts towards the flamed female who forced herself upwards and blasted the pair with fire shaped like a wheel, this attack destroyed all of the rubble and threw the pair backwards making them lose their weapons.

Sazh could only watch as his summon walked closer with her weapon held high ready to strike. She swung but was thrown to the floor by a burst of water, Sazh turned around and saw Vanille laugh.

"We might have our own type of magic like I do with air and you with fire yet that boost earlier i think we can now perform any magic although it will be a lower standard then the original l`cie controlling it.

"Then let's do this" said Sazh turning towards his female summon.

The pair threw their hands forwards sending bursts of water at Bryhilde who screamed in pain. Vanille grabbed her rod on the way and threw the pistol back to their owner who caught them. Sazh nodded thanks as he turned the weapons on a fallen and weak eidolon.

"You have to finish this Sazh make her yours" exclaimed Vanille with a slight frown.

Sazh threw a couple of water spells at the figure before aiming his weapons and firing them dead into the chest of the enemy who yelled out before she suddenly began to growl at the pair causing Vanille to walk a bit closer out of curiosity. Bryhilde began to fold up as armour sprouted along with four wheels and a cage type shape, within seconds she was race car which Sazh got into smiling as he put his thumbs up before the flames disappeared back into the male.

Vanille looked at the male and began to walk back before she opened up her arms and closed her arms, Sazh had pointed his guns at the female again, he was just inches away and could see the female's chest going in and out at an incredible speed, she was scared.

"Lots of things can be forgotten or excused but shooting kids isn't one" said Sazh and he lowered the guns away from the female.

Vanille fell to the floor and took a deep breath as tears begin to fall yet again, she was still alive and it was thanks to Sazh he had almost forgiven her for what she had done and the female was eternally grateful. She was happy until she opened her eyes properly and saw that Sazh, to her horror, had a pistol pointed at his head.

"No Sazh" she muttered slowly.

Sazh threw his pistol back into its holster before falling to the floor and sat opposite Vanille still not looking at her in the eye. Vanille knew that it wasn't right to smile so she didn't yet she was extremely happy that the male hadn't gone through with killing himself.

"Why can't i do it?" he yelled to no one "I have no reason to keep living. I cant even kill you"

"Oh Sazh" cried Vanille getting to her feet and walking closer to the male in order to comfort him.

Suddenly a group of men surrounded the pair with their rifles aimed at them causing Vanille to gasp at them. They pulled Vanille and Sazh from each other and forced them on their knees although the pair struggled to get free. Then they both looked up as their focus was drawn towards the female now walking onto the same floor as them.

"You should be proud. Your son's a hero. The boy who saved Cocoon, We'll erect a memorial in Eden and put his crystal on display." said Nabaat.

"He's a little boy" yelled Sazh as he struggled to get free.

"As the son of a Pulse l'Cie, he would have lived in shame and misery. Isn't it better he be treated with reverence as a monument to sacrifice?" asked the female with a cruel laugh "mm"

Vanille hung her head, she knew that it was her fault and there was nothing she could do about it. Sazh however was overcome with anger and the male struggled with all his might to get free while yelling at the sky making Nabaat smile before lifting her sword against his neck and he one swift strike he was knocked out.

"The next time your eyes open will be your last" she told him as she walked away with Vanille yelling after her "Oh and be careful with them, every tool has its uses"

The soldiers pulled Vanille to her feet and dragged her towards the ship below while Sazh was put into a white coffin type bed which was used to take him to the ship. Nabaat followed them on laughing.

"This will be great news broadcast for your little friends to come running then it will be their turn to die"

Vanille turned towards her with her mouth opened and her face full of shock, if they came to rescue them then they were dead but maybe if the group were together and now that they had Fang too and Albion then maybe, just maybe they could get out of that place. She smiled causing Nabaat to frown and followed Sazh to their holding cell where she should wait for him to wake.


End file.
